At first I was not going to post a tribute at all.
I was feeling like nothing I could put down on cyber-paper would ever be enough to express what I feel at the loss of our true north. - Madiba. I thought perhaps I should mourn silently and not disrespect his legacy with a below average account on a little blog from nowhere particular in SA.
I changed my tune after watching the incredibly moving memorial service held by the ANC yesterday. It was particularly a discussion I had that evening about whether or not these feelings of nostalgia that were brought upon by his passing would convince the Johannesburg youth to side with the ANC one again. ( this is on the back of a prior conversation about the ANC of today versus the ANC of the greats). Of course cyber space (especially not a "lifestyle blog") is not a suitable platform to share what was said but I will say the following:
We have been a politically lazy South African youth. I will personally no longer be a passive bandwagon rider. Wherever my voice can be heard, I will offer it. It was Mandela himself who said "a thousand slights, a thousand indignities, a thousand unremembered moments created a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people." - It is with this exact ethos that I write this post. I feel that just because our struggle isn't painted with massacres blood shed, it doesn't mean that it is any less important. It is an imminent and desperately important as that of our struggle veterans. We have to take responsibility for the inequalities that exist in our society. - racism, classism, sexism etc. - it is our problem, it is our fault, it is our war to fight. We have to stop shifting the blame. This is the legacy that Tata left for me. The desire to fight for freedom. Lala Ngoxolo Yem Yem.
