Pearl Harbor Day

Today's online issue of the Fargo Forum features several articles on regional residents who have some connection to Pearl Harbor. One of the articles (here) is an update on a story carried a few months ago on how the North Dakota chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association had to disband as its membership had dropped to four.

This brings to mind sasa and zamani, which refers to an African (Swahili) concept of time. Sasa is overlapping time, where those who have died are still remembered by someone who is living--their lives overlapped; while zamani is time where ancestors may still be remembered, but there is no longer have anyone alive who personally knew them or remembers them. While this isn't a perfect explanation of the two stages, or dimensions, it is still useful for understanding history and the process by which we develop our historical understandings.

These concepts of sasa and zamani cause us concern when we see the number of people connected to significant historical events who are no longer living and/or capable of telling their stories. Every year as Veteran's Day and Pearl Harbor Day pass on the calendar, there are articles about how few are left from the so-called Greatest Generation to tell the stories of war, genocide, the home-front, and other events.

Rather than lamenting the progression of time, let this be a challenge to everyone to take the opportunity to interview older friends and relatives to learn more about their experiences and stories. Record it, transcribe it, publish it--before it is all zamani.