In our moments of utter despondency we are always comforted by reflections of the past, that others, or ourselves have endured and ultimately triumphed. That is the definitive shared history and as the saying goes, our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. In history we learn many lessons and as we all know history is a relentless teacher. If we fail to learn the many lessons of history or we fail to share the knowledge that we have all created, then we stand for reprove as we find ourselves inadequate in the wisdom of the present. This is the shared history of humanity.
A Shared History we have with the diaspora- those unbreakable sinews encasing memories, dreams, nightmares, traumas and secrets of the DNA of feeling passed through limbos and rooted in the trajectories of a shared essentialism. A Shared History we have with the African continent- the imagined community based on filial relations dipped not only in our colonial past but in our ethno-linguistic wholeness. A Shared history we have with our nation, where we appear as a small body of determined spirits ablaze with the voracious faith of a mission and a desire to take actions that make a difference and maybe change the course of history.
It is at ZIFF 2013 that we celebrate A Shared History.