The Day I Met Mandela and Gandhi. The Confessions of a Part-time Activist / Episode 888
The immense pain and suffering these two inspirational leaders have experienced, resonates with the current plight of West Papuans. West Papua is situated embarrassingly close to Australia. The Media is silent about the genocide taking place. There is too much oil, too much gold, too much exploitation, too much collusion, and too many Indigenous people. West Papua is being colonially enslaved and Indonesia is cracking the whip. I started a campaign because I felt the cries of West Papuans.
To celebrate the start of the campaign to help Indonesia embrace West Papua with Love, I headed to Trafalgar Square to do some chalk art. On my way there, I bumped into Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi in parliament square. They were statues side by side facing the Houses of Parliament. The home for the making of laws in the UK.
[Disclaimer Start]
At this point, I can neither confirm nor deny any of the following events in this story. [Embellishments may occur]
I suddenly became overwhelmed by the Gandhi and Mandela statues. I vaguely recall, my last clear rational thought, it was, do I create an art piece in Trafalgar Square in the presence of the statue of Admiral Nelson, a war maker. Or do I create an art piece between the statues of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, two love and respect role models. Or do I go knocking on the Houses of Parliament to speak to someone about creating a new law to respect everyone unconditionally?
That's when I lost it! I lost consciousness. I slipped into some kind of weird void where time stood still. A moment seemed like an eternity filled with endless love and joy.
When I woke, this is the picture that appeared beneath me.
I gazed for a while and stood in awe. The Infinity symbol on top of the Love symbol looks the same as the Infinite Loves Embrace symbol. It also looks like two people in a tender embrace. There were flags and words which read, "Indonesia, embrace West Papua with Love instead of Brutality". This was very similar to something I would say. As I wondered about how this appeared, I began to feel a little light-headed again. Thoughts started flashing through my mind
What would Gandhi say about the tears of West Papuans? What would Mandela say about the inability to see the beauty in others?
How could they work together to help Indonesia to embrace West Papua with Love?
"You're not allowed to do this here"
My gaze was interrupted, I noticed something, something even more bizarre than the unexplained phenomenon of artwork that appeared beneath me. I gasped! The chalk pieces which I brought were littered all over the floor. I was perplexed. I did not even begin to think about how they got out of my bag onto the floor, right in front of me. Without thinking I scurried around on my hands and knees to retrieve them all. Within 8 seconds of me putting the last piece of chalk in my bag, a Warden approached me.
She said, "you're not allowed to do this here". I said, "it was not, me".
She looked at me and pointed to my hand and knees. I was covered in chalk. I was speechless, I was in a right mess. I needed to sit down and process this. Why were my hands and knees covered in chalk. I learned a valuable lesson that day. I will never shuffle around on a dirty, chalky floor to pick up pieces of chalk that mysteriously fell out of my bag. Never again.
Look at the picture, I was so upset with my dirty clothes, I could not smile properly.
"someone is coming to get me"
The Warden started talking on her radio. I could not hear what was being said, a woman informed me that the Warden was talking about me and she thinks someone was coming to get me. For a split moment, I thought it could have been me who drew on the ground. Reassurance came in a flash that confirmed my fears. People are still misspelling my website name, The person initially wrote InfiniteLove.com and I can see where they corrected it to say InfiniteLoves.com. I would never make a mistake like that, thinking there is only 1 form of love in our world. I love West Papua and I love Indonesia too.
As I was contemplating, a person asked if I had noticed the Warden trying to wash the picture off. I chuckled and whispered I think it was a libation. I felt humbled, not only was the Warden African, she was a Woman. Traditionally, African Women are the highest spiritual practitioners. I became overwhelmed I was welling up, my hands were dirty and I had no tissues. So I left the 'crime' scene to deal with my emotions. I would have loved to have waited to speak with the people 'coming to get me'. It would have been interesting to see the CCTV footage to find out who had drawn on the pavement in front of the Houses of Parliament.
[Disclaimer End]
Please help Indonesia to embrace West Papua with Love.
Love is the answer, the question is not relevant.
