Lending a voice to a nation that has been silenced

Thank you to writers like Thembe Khumalo for all their articles and books published and in the process of being published, because the things we write for ourselves and for other people, lend a voice to a nation that has been silenced and is still silenced in so many ways; a nation of patriarchy and autocratic leaderships that is replicated in the home, in the workplace, in the streets, within our friendships, marriages and other spaces.

It is not okay that generations from our nation and those from the global community are silenced as if one human being is better than another. It is not okay that we want to be better than another by forcing others to bend their backs so that we can stand on them and pretend we got to where we are alone – NO – it is not okay that we belittle another when each and every one of us came into this world with different talents coupled by different characters that when all put together and provided a space to bloom, would make this lovely amalgamation of consistency shifting continents into the diverse, exciting space that it can be!

Thank you Thembe Khumalo and other writers for lending a voice to those who we will and should continue to carry with us until they re-find their voices. In the meantime, the new babes being born, and the young we are currently nurturing, should be given the space to express whom they truly are so that their destinies are fulfilled in all their glory.

Let’s spread the compassion, let’s embrace each other for whom we are, let’s provide those safe spaces of free engagement, free expression and free growth!

Barbara