Written by Izibele Maloyi
Black people - the most colourful and creative people I know, if I say so myself. We are renowned fighters; people who know more than a thing or two on what it takes to make incredible from nothing. Simply put, black people are more than a people, we are a force.
Needless to say, we have earned every right to be referred to as gods and goddesses. However, as amazing a people as we are, there is always room for growth.
Better than…
There is a growing trend of a lot of black individuals who actually believe that they are better than the others. As soon as someone levels up, they think they are above all that made them who they are.
Well, allow me to be the buzz kill – whatever you own, however much you have, you are just like the rest of us beneath you. All of us are fighting the same war; we’re all en route to healing from the generational traumas that have haunted blacks for many years.
No one black person is better than the other – until we’re all freed from the economic and systematic oppression by the minority bunch, then no one is free.
Tribal wars…
You’ve heard it before: “Xhosa women love money,” “Zulu boys are all bound to be taxi drivers.” All of these stereotypes have pitted us against each other. No one is seen as an individual nowadays. Everyone is a collective. We need to stop the nonsense of segregating each other based on what tribe one is from. It’s not funny to ridicule people without any knowledge of who they are and what they stand for.
There is wisdom in immersing yourself into someone else’s culture and really soaking it in. The similarities do outweigh the differences.
Limits…
You would think that a people as brilliant as we are, would not set itself limits. Yet sadly, we so often do just that. “No man, you can’t be doing that, those are white people things.” It’s silly to believe that you have to maintain the typical standard to which black people hold themselves. Why can’t you be what you want to be? It is only when we become ourselves that we truly soar.
This is not an attack on black people; I love my fellow blacks and I am constantly inspired by how far we can reach, but I am also wary of how much damage has been done by our refusal to accept our own faults and biases. I am not expecting us to be perfect beings, but I am merely trying to empower us to become persons who continuously evolve and are able to quickly adapt to different scenarios.
The oppressors perfectly executed the divide and conquer strategy – you are all inadequate and worthless as black people, but you and your people are less worthless than the others.
We are more than what we have been made to think of ourselves. In fact, were a lot more than what our society wants us to be. It’s high time we took a hard look at ourselves.
We encompass the bloodline of Steve Bantu Biko, Brenda ‘MaBrrr' Fassie, Chris Hani, and Lebo Mathosa; maybe it will do us an awful lot of good to work towards being as exceptional as they were!
Images: thesouthafrican.com
コメント