What constitutes ''Blacknesss''

A friend recently said ''Salome, you're ashamed of being black. You're trying to be white''.
In shock and amazement I asked to explain her statement: she justified it by mentioning my accent , the dominance of English in speech and my interests and referred to me as a ''snob''. I felt bullied and judged

Is there a ranking for ''blackness'' if so what is it based on? Is that the darkness of one's skin? The way in which the speak? Their opinion on hip-hop? WHAT IS IT?

Judging is PLAIN WRONG, but if we judge shouldn't it be on person's moral compass rather than how they present themselves?

 South Africa has 11 official languages, not Zulu and Sotho BUT 11 (English included) ; Is it wrong for one to comfortable interchange between any two languages? Aren't we living in a democracy?

I find in the black community we tend to ostracize people who slightly different to us; We'll call them names and even go as far as accusing of not being black enough. This saddens me, as the black race is the most diverse and beautiful race on earth, shouldn't we then accept that there will be different personalities as there are skin tones? Why are we afraid of uniqueness?


I love my dark chocolate skin tone and my intensely coarse hair ; I love my complex family and how I live in a country where I can use whichever language I feel comfortable in to express myself; right now I tell my mom that I love her Sotho and then proceed to tell her about my day in Afrikaans (Isn't that amazing?)


Until we start embracing and encouraging diversity, we can never be united.

That ''enlightened'' awkward African girl

I AM A HATER OR AM I?

I AM A ''HATER'' OR AM I

Recently  I expressed my opinion on a number of things ranging from my distaste of The Fast and the Furious franchise to how the Wits dining hall includes CHEESE in the beef schwarma(YUCK) ; I always get the same response from people around ‘’Oh, you’re such a hater’’ or ‘’Stop hating’’, so I started to question if I’m a ‘’hater’’. For a deeper and clearer understanding of the word hate, I decided to seek knowledge in the dictionary and this is what I found.  Definition of Hate - intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

 Well, I wouldn’t say that I have ‘’intense hostility’’ or ‘’anger’’ towards the fast and the furious or the taste of cheese in my beef schwarma ; It’s just not my cup of tea. I don’t like The Fast and the Furious cause I think its outplayed and there’s other things more interesting out there AND I find that cheese, beef and hummus IS JUST PLAIN DISGUSTING. Same way some of you reading this find anime utterly boring and would say that it’s for ‘’kids’’ or found accounting in high school or varsity unbearable, is that now ‘’hating’’.

Furthermore a ‘’hater’’ is described by the urban dictionary as ‘’ A person that simply cannot be happy for another person’s success. So rather than be happy they make a point of exposing a flaw in that person.’’ So say we’re having a conversation about Rihanna’s new hairstyle and I express that I don’t like it and that I prefer the one prior to that… Is that being a hater

Black people of South Africa, let’s stop using the words ‘’hater’’ ‘’hate’’ and ‘’hating’’ inappropriately; an expression of opinion does not constitute HATE. If you expect people to respect you and your opinion, you should do the same.  Q-tip couldn’t have said it better in Steve Biko(Stir it up) ‘’Opinions are like voices, we all have a different kind’’

That Awkward Annoyed African Girl

I HATE MY LITTLE SISTER

I HATE MY LITTLE SISTER

AS far back as I can remember

My little sister who is 2 years younger than me has been the cool one

I am tall, lanky and dark skinned while she is light-skinned and curvy

While she was making friends I was watching cartoons and pretending to be a Gummi Bear

Every time I come across distant relatives whom I cant even recall, they always ask the same questions ”Salome, are you still into cartoons” or ”Salome, is your little sister still a great dance?”

She is so good at making friends, and knows most of the bouncers at all the awesome clubs in Pretoria

While my definition of an awesome Saturday is chilling at home, listening to my mom’s woes and watching Naruto

I tend to come across as stuck up, well in actual fact I’m shy and I parties or crowds

While she’s the AMAZING social friendly QUEEN

I love her to bits

I just wish I had some off her genes

That awkward Black girl

ABOUT ME

This morning I woke up to the sweet sounds of A Tribe Called Quest

I found myself wondering whether girls like me exist?

Well I don’t have a beautiful long Indian weave or perfect skin like Bonang Matheba

I’m not ALL black consciousness ”anti-twang” with the poofy afro

I have a slight twang, MY HAIR is unprocessed and I MIGHT have a weave on but trust me I paid less than R500 for it

I’m an accounting student and I wear glasses (How cliched is that!)

I was literally that annoying loud fan who knew every song at The Coldplay concert in 2011

I recite lyrics to the weirdest songs (In my head of course) during small talk

And in 2015 I want to go live in Japan (much to the dismay of my parents and boyfriend)

Signed

That Awkward African Girl