My Father:

“Makorokoto (congratulations) on the birth of your son,” maiguru (older aunt) says to him. “Thank you,” he says to maiguru in response. But how can he say such a thing? How can he thank her for congratulating him? He did not have the child by himself. His father and mother had that child. His wife had that child. We all had that child. In traditional Manica culture he is supposed to say “tese (for us all).” The congratulations is for us all.

As my father is saying this, I cant help thinking (in the context of the present presidency, the present war, deep tax cuts, soaring oil profits) that Hillary Clinton’s African village is now dated, a thing of the past, even laughable in its innocence. The last decade was a soft decade.