Amanda Khozi Mukwashi

Amanda Khozi Mukwashi is a Zambian lawyer, author, international development leader, and United Nations official. She is the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Lesotho and the former chief executive officer of Christian Aid. Quotes "Who am I? I'm made up of so many different things. I'm not one thing and one thing only. And this is what I try to say to colleagues and also, I think, to my family, that I'm a woman, I'm a black woman, I am an African black woman. I'm a woman of faith. I'm a mother, I'm a sister, I'm a daughter, I'm a friend. I'm also the UN resident coordinator in Lesotho, and all that really makes up I think the person that I am, and many more other pieces, I think, that add to that." “Let's talk about it a little more freely, not for it to hold our hands and tie them, but for it to liberate us to think differently.” “I realized I'm a black person and that people see the color of my skin first, before they see who I am and what I'm capable of doing…that was the rude awakening.” "You know, the struggle to look for resources, to fund the fight against gender-based violence - I mean, it beggars belief. It's easier to get money for everything else. Tackling gender-based violence, so that women can be safe, so that girls can just go to school, so that women can be productive, self-reliant, have and enjoy the dignity and human rights equally - the struggle to get resources for that, I mean, it keeps me awake at night. It really does." "I wrote this book during the COVID lockdown. And for many years, you know, these questions had been going through my mind. And of course, in 2020, they sort of crystallized into something that was quite tangible. And the reason I wrote it was, I wanted to say ‘No’ to racism. I also wanted to show people that each one of us has got, comes from a sort of a multifaceted background, that every single one of us, and also, I wanted to raise awareness of the fact that I think that over the years, over the decades, centuries, we have all inherited and profited from a mechanism that created an environment, where racial injustice thrives. And what really sort of made me sit down to write it was my grandmother had passed. And I just thought I come from such a rich history of people, of migrants, of you know, different heritage, but it's all just oral, it's all just spoken. We never write it, it was okay to just talk about it. But when you get to a point where that lack of written history is used against you, the colour of your skin is problematic. You always have to find ways of justifying who you are." "You know, I was always asked, “Oh, Amanda, you're so well spoken, your English is so good. You know, your values are so good. Where did you learn them from?” And you know, you'd think to yourself, “Wow, why would you ask me something like that?” You know? And so instead of fighting racism, from an angry perspective, or point, what I thought is, “Why don't I tell the story in a different way? Why don't I tell the story in a way that says: you know what, Melissa? You probably have similar stories that you could tell about yourself. And any one of us can do that. Why don't we focus on the common things that we have, and that we share? And maybe if we focus on that, then we are going to put the differences into perspective, which is they're going to take on a lot less importance in our lives, and in this world of ours.” So that was the driver, really. I wanted to tell a different story." "I have to clarify something here. There is a first question that is asked, “Hi, Amanda. Where are you from?” And you know, you can take it either way. And I think that particular question is normally asked to anybody, regardless of the colour of your skin, right? And I've always thought, even in Zambia, where I'm originally from, somebody might ask, “Where are you from?” because they want to find common identity. They want to find an entry point into the conversation, you know, so if you say, I'm from Keembe, which is in central Zambia, then somebody would say, “Oh, I'm from there as well.” And then you know, you go on, and you say, “Oh, so which village?” and then you say which village you're from. And normally, that is really about - I want to get to know you better." "Right? If I'm in England, and somebody says to me, “Where are you from?” “I'm from Coventry,” right? And they say, “Oh, really? I went to this school. Which school did you go to?” That is people really trying to get to know each other. But this particular question always comes after that first question." "So you're asked, “Where are you from?” And you say, “I'm from Coventry.” And somebody says, “No, no, no, no, no, but where are you really from?” And that, for me, is a denial of who you have self- defined to be. Right? And if it's a white person asking another white person, normally, that would not happen, unless you've got a different accent, you sound different, then somebody might say, “Oh, but the way you speak sounds as if you're from Scotland, or sounds as if you're from some other country.” Right? But for people of colour, as long as your skin colour is different, I found that I had to answer that question just too many times." "And for me, as a first-generation migrant to the UK, maybe I could even say, okay, maybe I understand. But really, what about my children? What about my children's children? For how long are they going to continue to have to justify themselves? You know, Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury, puts it this way, that it's almost like they're being asked to show their papers, every time that question is asked, it's like, “Show me your identity. Show me, you know, what rights do you have to be here.” Right?" "And when you think about it, when you go back in history, in Western Europe, the migration in there, there is nobody really, or there are very few people who can claim to say, “I am originally from here, and I haven't come from anywhere.” You know, we've all come from somewhere, we've moved and evolved, because that's, that's what life is, right? That's what life is." "Atleast from my experience of living in different countries, of meeting different people, of working in the sector that I've chosen to work, in terms of international development. And what I found is that I am better off, because I've met so many different people. In fact, I went to school in Italy because my parents were diplomats. And I didn't have maybe two or three single friends from the same nationality. They were from all over." "And what was fascinating is that when we would talk, for example, about our parents, and how strict they were, we had all that in common. All of us, regardless of whether you were Italian, whether you were Indian, whether you were Israeli, or you know, Jordanian, or … it really didn't matter, and, and that's what we focused on, and sometimes you just wish that innocence of youth that just takes you as you are." External links Category:Lawyers from Zambia Category:Women authors from Zambia Category:Women activists from Zambia Category:United Nations officials Category:Human rights activists Category:Living people Category:Women in law