When we were Black Women

When we were black women,

we used to walk this rich land

with abundance on our lips

warmth woven in our grip,

rhythm pulsing in our hips

and viewed the world through sun-kissed eyelids.

When we were black women,

our crowns mirrored pride rather than disgust

our bodies belonged to us

our hearts were soaked in trust

our brothers would kill to protect us.

Now, the Earth orbits anti-clockwise

we see bullets rather than birds fly

not in the end of days but during femicide

because a black woman is born a crime.

Now, we mine for black women in a boyfriend’s backyard

inside the boot of taxis and cars,

at playgrounds and children’s parks

behind ‘kwa-next door’ after dark.

Like water, our emancipation is fluid

filling the cracks of an unjust society

‘enough’ loses its strength in OUR vocabulary

because once, we visited the president at his residency,

changed our minds when it came to sexuality,

wore our clothes a little too tightly,

proceeded to smile whilst flirting,

had the nerve to ignore the cat-calling

and being labelled as a ‘bitch who loves back chatting’.

When we were black women,

our OPTIONS became critical life choices

of how to survive and stay alive.

When we were Black Women was originally published in Dear Queen on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In 4 days, it will be the 12th of September, 39 years since Steve Bantu Biko was assassinated. I turned 28 this year and when Biko was assassinated, he was 30 years old. I get cold shivers up and down my spine in knowing that I am round about Biko’s age when he was assassinated. I’m saddened that I did not have the privilege of living in a time when he was alive.

When I read about how Steve Biko succumbed to his wounds from the beatings and torture he was subjected to in prison, it riles me to the bone and I feel bilious with disgust. Instead of rushing him to a nearby hospital, it is said that Apartheid police dumped him at the back of a bakkie, naked, and DROVE 11 hours from Port Elizabeth to Pretoria so he could receive ‘medical attention’ at a prison hospital for a supposed hunger strike. This feels so unreal for me to comprehend, I cannot even wrap my brain around this information.

Bear in mind, this is what was recorded from the so-called evaluations of the Apartheid police and I shudder to think of all the other accounts of detainees that South Africans do not know about and will never know of. As the years go by, I worry the truth behind the horror gets buried deeper and deeper in the convoluted brains of those in the know, many of which are already 6-feet under.

1994: A new dawn for South Africa achieving democracy but with the heavy burden of too many people who ‘vanished’ from South African soil without a trace or with patronising explanations such as ‘he died from a hunger strike’ or ‘she committed suicide’ without any accountability 22 years later. In my opinion, if Biko were alive today, the politics of this country would have turned out very differently. However, due to the magnitude of his existence, the Apartheid police had to destroy and remove the great phoenix that he was from rising to new heights.

Art, in whatever shape or form, is meant to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed otherwise it loses its impact, hence I bought this tote bag (see feature image). I see this bag as an uncomfortable yet powerful reminder of the man who was so great, he had to be forcibly removed from this World before his calling was completed. A grueling reminder that when greatness is instilled in you by a power beyond any human ability, though they may take your life, your greatness alone rebels and defies their actions. I often wonder if the families and descendants of the men that killed Biko ever feel anything knowing that through the actions of one of their own, South Africa was stripped of a force that could have transformed the course of this country beyond our wildest dreams.

It took me a while to publish this post because I was not sure if publishing my view on this topic would be a worthwhile or if anyone would read it. But, I decided to hit ‘publish’ and share my thoughts with you so here it goes…

Growing up, I would often hear the phrase ‘she is a feminist’ and more often than not, this phrase would usually be associated with women who other people deemed to be ‘man-haters’. I was curious as to why this was so but I would shy away from being associated with the word ‘Feminist’ or I would reside myself to the fact that I would be indifferent about what that ‘F-word’ actually meant.

In most cases, I have been told by people (mostly guys) that I am ‘too independent’, ‘too outspoken’ and in some cases, being told by males who have traditionalist views on the role of females, that my assertiveness is wrong because it makes me come across as being ‘too cheeky’. In their eyes, females are not meant to have an opinion or challenge anything. Just because I value equality between men AND women, does not mean I am anti-men or a ‘man-hater’ but I was cautious of ‘how much’ of my opinion could I actually share. In fact, I feel society does not do a good enough job of uplifting and appreciating the men that do good and appreciate the value of seeing a female as an equal counterpart.

Which brings me to the question of why we tell young girls that they ‘run/hit like a girl’? I mean, HOW else are they supposed to run or hit if their biological makeup is that of being a female? Why has ‘being a girl’ been belittled to something of lesser importance or lesser strength? I do not have kids but if I ever do have kids and they happen to be girls, how do I protect them just enough so as not to ‘cover up’ the harsh realities of life today? How does one raise strong girls without compromising their right to be content with being a girl? I know there is no set formula to follow but this is my biggest conundrum to get right.

I am not an expert on the topic of Feminism or Feminist theory but I feel that as a cisgender (educate yourself & Google this term!) female, it is my duty to continue to educate myself and others to ensure the ‘F-word’ is used in an empowering way rather than to build on societal structures of what and how ‘being a feminist’ has been perceived to be.

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Note: The featured blog image is not mine and is in no way used for commercial purposes.

A lot of the time, especially in the corporate world, you see Exec members pushing their employees to drive one of their ultimate goals which is brand equity. There is nothing wrong with this but a lot of the time HOW this gets done is misguided.

For those that do not know, simply put, brand equity is the total value that is derived from consumers’ perception of a brand. Brand equity is earned and built over time in order to create longevity of the brand. What people fail to understand is that before you can achieve brand equity, you need customer equity first. As a brand, you cannot reach brand equity when you have not achieved customer equity because good relationships with your customers will impact how they perceive your your brand. Brand equity and customer equity cannot exist in isolation.

In my opinion, people get taught out of creativity. You see it everyday by being told to colour in the lines, being told to focus and stop doodling during class, being told you can be whatever you want to be but get told that dancing does not pay the bills or school fees. All of this slowly chips away at a person’s creativity as societal barriers keep popping up in front you even when you are unaware of it.

Creativity and design thinking are important to cause disruption and to create memorability of a brand. Disruption is good as it causes talkability and brand recognition. However, brands need to go one step further and ensure that their disruption converts consumers and constantly makes consumers remember brand experiences that stand out. It’s about that tipping point that brands need to constantly strive for as spoken about in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point. If a brand leverages off creativity and design thinking and changes perceptions, they have a better chance of building on their customer relationships and in time, building on the brand equity they so eagerly want to increase.

When creativity is applied to brand equity, it creates a renewed and fresh approach to what brands stand for in the minds of consumers. Sometimes, adding creativity may just be about changing how you do something not necessarily changing what you do with the hope that better value is added for the consumer, almost like adding a bit of flavour to spice up what was previously seen as a boring snack.

Please note: Permission to use the feature image was obtained from and granted by Nick Levesque. To see more of his amazing work, please visit http://art.nicholaslevesque.com

What constitutes a friend? In today’s social media environment, the lines get blurred constantly, putting the definition of a friend up to interpretation. The acquisition of friends in today’s society and social media culture is changing rapidly. Is the concept of friendship still genuine or has it become a convenient yardstick for popularity?

Social media, to an extent, has made people believe they are being social by name-dropping the few names they have acquired through likes, shares and retweets. Friendship, in the traditional sense, is about creating and building a long-lasting relationship with the people you consider to be close to you.

Acquiring friends has become so easy it’s almost like buying your usual over-the-counter meds, just to satisfy that need for instant gratification.

Through regular conversation, consumers can seek less validation from the need to acquire more friends and hopefully turn validation into value-added relationships.

Note: The featured image belongs to Domenic Bahmann (@domfriday). More of his work can be seen on http://stopthinkmake.com

On Thursday, 17 March, I attended a speaker event in Joburg, South Africa. This event is an annual event called Suits & Sneakers and is all about merging the formal learning (the suit) with informal learning (the sneakers) through a platform where people can network with the featured speakers.

There are 5 key things I took away from this event and hopefully these things can help you too:

1. 80% of life is SHOWING UP. The fact that you have showed up to a meeting, to class, to work etc. proves that you have something valuable to offer. So get up, dress up, show up.
2. When you don’t know what to do, do what you know. This is easier said than done, especially in the corporate world but, people are not perfect. When you are faced with a situation that leaves you stumped, do what you know or go with your gut. Just do something.
3. Success is not POWER. It is creating! We need go against the 'norm' of what success has been painted to be.
4. "Create a culture of delayed gratification". Whatever you do, make sure you also make a contribution to society. A give and take mentality is important for the survival of economies.
5. 2 things hold people back: Confirmation bias and status quo bias!Stop looking for evidence to confirm what you are afraid of or what you think you believe. Start that business, go travel, start that blog, go study. Whatever you have been longing to do, the important step to take is to just START!

In today’s world, we need to come up with ideas that solve problems creatively. We should not be looking at Government to come up creative solutions…that is where BUSINESS comes in.

Brands no longer belong with big corporations but with the consumer. Consumers spread the narrative of the brand’s story.