Mbiri ya Obituary: Bruce Kent

ndi Tim Devereux, Thetsani Nkhondo, June 11, 2022

Mu 1969, Bruce anapita ku Biafra pamtunda wa Nkhondo Yachiŵeniŵeni ku Nigeria - inali Njira yake yopita ku Damasiko. Iye adawona njala yayikulu ya anthu wamba omwe adagwiritsidwa ntchito ngati chida chankhondo pomwe boma la Britain limapereka zida ku boma la Nigeria. "Palibe chochitika china m'moyo wanga chomwe chidakulitsa malingaliro anga mwachangu kwambiri… Ndinayamba kumvetsetsa momwe omwe ali ndi mphamvu angachite zinthu mwankhanza ngati zofuna zazikulu monga mafuta ndi malonda zili pachiwopsezo. Ndinayambanso kuzindikira kuti kulankhula mozama za kuthetsa umphaŵi popanda kulimbana ndi nkhani zankhondo ndiko kudzinyenga wekha ndi kudzinamiza.”

Biafra asanafike, analeredwa ku Stonyhurst School, kutsatiridwa ndi zaka ziŵiri National Service in the Royal Tank Regiment ndi digiri ya Law ku Oxford. Anaphunzitsidwa za unsembe, ndipo anadzozedwa mu 1958. Atatha kutumikira monga woyang'anira, choyamba ku Kensington, kenako Ladbroke Grove, anakhala Mlembi Wachinsinsi wa Archbishop Heenan kuyambira 1963 mpaka 1966. Ophunzira aku London, ndipo adatsegula Chaplaincy ku Gower Street. Ntchito zake zamtendere ndi chitukuko zidakula. Pofika m'chaka cha 1973, paulendo wa Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, anali kuchotsa zoipa kuchokera kumalo osungirako zida za nyukiliya a Polaris ku Faslane - "Kuchokera pakufuna kupha, Ambuye Wabwino, tipulumutseni."

Pochoka ku Chaplaincy mu 1974, adagwira ntchito kwa Pax Christi kwa zaka zitatu, asanakhale Wansembe wa Parish ku St Aloysius ku Euston. Ali kumeneko adakhala Wapampando wa CND, mpaka 1980, pomwe adachoka ku parishiyo kukhala Mlembi Wamkulu wa CND wanthawi zonse.

Inali nthawi yofunika kwambiri. Purezidenti Reagan, Prime Minister Thatcher ndi Purezidenti Brezhnev adalankhula za bellicose pomwe mbali iliyonse idayamba kuponya zida zankhondo zanyukiliya. Gulu lotsutsana ndi zida za nyukiliya linakula ndikukula - ndipo mu 1987, Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty inasaina. Panthawiyo, Bruce analinso Wapampando wa CND. M'zaka khumi zovutazi, adasiya unsembe m'malo motsatira malangizo a Cardinal Hume kuti asiye kutenga nawo mbali pa chisankho cha 1987 UK.

Mu 1999 Bruce Kent anali wogwirizira wa ku Britain ku Hague Appeal for Peace, msonkhano wapadziko lonse wa 10,000 ku The Hague, womwe unayambitsa kampeni yayikulu (monga zolimbana ndi zida zazing'ono, kugwiritsa ntchito zida za ana, komanso kulimbikitsa maphunziro amtendere). Zinali izi, pamodzi ndi kulankhula kwa Nobel kwa Pulofesa Rotblat kuyitanitsa kutha kwa nkhondo, zomwe zinamuuzira kuti akhazikitse ku UK Movement for the Abolition of War. M'mbuyomu kuposa ambiri mumayendedwe amtendere ndi chilengedwe, adazindikira kuti simungathe kupeza mtendere popanda kugwira ntchito yoletsa Kusintha kwa Nyengo - adawonetsetsa kuti kanema wa MAW "Conflict & Climate Change" adawona kuwala kwa tsiku mu 2013.

Bruce anakwatira Valerie Flessati mu 1988; monga womenyera mtendere yekha, adalumikizana mwamphamvu, akugwira ntchito limodzi pama projekiti ambiri kuphatikiza London Peace Trail ndi Misonkhano Yambiri Yamtendere. Monga wolimbikitsa mtendere, ngakhale atakalamba, Bruce nthawi zonse anali wokonzeka kukwera sitima kupita kumalekezero ena a dziko kukakamba msonkhano. Ngati akanakumana nanu kale, akanadziwa dzina lanu. Limodzi ndi kusonyeza utsiru ndi chisembwere cha zida za nyukiliya m’nkhani zake, iye kaŵirikaŵiri anatchula za United Nations, kaŵirikaŵiri kutikumbutsa za Mawu Oyamba a Tchata: “Ife anthu a United Nations tinatsimikiza mtima kupulumutsa mibadwo yotsatira ku nkhondo. mliri wankhondo, umene kawiri m’moyo wathu wabweretsa chisoni chosaneneka kwa anthu . . .

Iye anali wolimbikitsa - zonse mwa chitsanzo, ndi luso lake lolimbikitsa anthu kutengapo mbali, ndi kukwaniritsa zambiri kuposa momwe iwo ankaganizira. Anali wolandira alendo, wansangala komanso wanzeru. Adzasowa kwambiri ndi olimbikitsa mtendere ku Britain ndi padziko lonse lapansi. Mkazi wake, Valerie, ndi mlongo wake, Rosemary, anapulumuka.

Tim Devereux