Black Lives Matter

Being black is not a crime we are neither inferior nor superior. What then are we? 1652 marks the year slavery crept its way into South Africa at the hands of Colonialism, to date that’s 364 years. A document signed and approved in 1996 did not rewrite history that cannot be done. One cannot simply rape a child then take it back with an, I’m sorry. The painful scars of enslavement run in our blood. Many are free raised by slaves so like a  lion raised by a lamb we do not know who we are. So we fight not truly understanding what we are fighting. We protest proudly and for what?

The movement entitled Black Lives Matter to me it is not to say that other races don’t matter but, that black people are humans too, we too do matter. For many years, the value placed on black lives has been astonishing. The painful reality is that black people themselves do not see the value that they carry. This does not exempt me when seeing a white person begging my heart is tugged more, yet I have the audacity to roll up my window at the black kid begging as if to say that could never have been me. Something is wrong with the way I think.  No one taught me to love the skin I have, I have heard of and seen on media of dolls representing people of colour yet I cannot recall touching on with my own hands. My hair is coiled, rough and thick it my natural hair yet even black people still ask ‘when are you going to get your hair done?’ enlighten me what is wrong with it?

I am thankful for what was done to afford me the opportunities that I have today, yet I am not satisfied, we have come this far we need to move forward. The how is what circles my mind because I do not really understand what needs fixing. With an aching stomach I can always go to a medical doctor; without any reservation take his word at what I need to do in order to heal. So with an aching nation where will we choose to go?

Racism, discrimination and segregation is still real it’s the love child we want to ignore, but that child is acting out to be seen and reality is that child cannot be ignored any longer. We say we want equality but, how do we measure that scale. Who dictates the rules?

Being a victim of circumstances is the life story of a black man and woman… it’s what we know. We were given a paper that said we are free but, no one put a roof over our heads, clothes on our bodies, educated our minds; we did get something, enough to allow us to merely exist. There are privileges handed to people just because of the colour of their skin, it sucks being the spectator. Keeping silent and acting like nothing is erroneous I seem to do horribly.

I do not hold any resentment towards any human who is not Black, just like me you did not choose which race to be born into those cards were just dealt into your hands. You suffer, struggle hurt and cry just like me. We were birth from a woman, both breath the same air, are allowed to walk on the same planet, yet my friend we are not the same.

I do not have any answers or solutions but, I do want to be part of them. Not through violence, human degradation or ignorance, history has taught me better.

So I started here, I asked a question to Black(B) and Non-Black(NB) people to sum up in one sentence their life experience being the race they were. Below is what I got: 

B- Black since birth its melanin that runs in my roots, am living proof, blessed and been through institutes but always been colonised by greater institutes.
 #blacklivesmatter

NB- My experience as a white person: it's been blessed, privilege and full of options and being brought up with a sense of this being my rightfull place and at the same time a sense of discomfort in realising the injustice around me, knowing something must change.... hope thats ok it sums up my journey as a white person over the period of my short life so far in a sentence

NB- I long to see a nation where ethnicity is celebrated, for we are all people an \d we are children of the same Africa.

B- Being a black young woman I feel undermined by my male peers (of both caucasian and black descent) in my field of study because I am delving into their professional playground whereby only few women apply or even succeed..

NB- I am the embodiment of the rainbow nation; my genetics are from a broad range of races. Being a dark in complexion mixed race or rather classified as "coloured" individual has its challenges in society. Everyday I get mistake for a different race, the most common is Indian, followed by black, then coloured & even Latino. My experience in life is that I have to work hard to be taken serious on an average day of being considered Indian, coloured or Latino - and I have to work even harder on the days that I'm consider black.

B- Colour Blind, that's how I grew up,being the "black kid on the block" jealously always came my way but love from another race taught me to just be colour blind!

 Now I ask you that very question to:

In one sentence, how is it like to be the race that you are?

This is the face of a Black life that matters #blacklivesmatter