A Determined Black Woman

  The title of this blog post is a double entendre and we are going to explore both meanings. Firstly, it means embracing the actual colour of your skin. Secondly, it means embracing the fact that you are a black woman, no matter your skin colour.   For years, being black was shunned upon. Being black and dark in skin colour was even worse. Our ancestors walked through hell for us. They endured endless humiliation about their race, skin colour, hair, how they spoke & body features. The sad part is that all of this is still very much prevalent in present day South Africa. It might not be at the same extent, but it still does exist. 27 years later and we’re still subject to such discrimination.   We cannot control how and what other races think about us, but we can control how and what we think about ourselves. What we’re not going to do in 2021 is inflict self-hate because of other people’s opinions. We are BOLD. We are BEAUTIFUL. We are BRILLIANT. We are BLACK...

I am not sure if we’re still allowed to say ‘Happy New Year’ in February. Growing up in a black community means saying Happy New Year till about mid- February. So, Happy New Year my fellow Determinists. I hope you are all well, rested, vision boards are up and ready to take on the year. Living in a pandemic is something none of us had ever experienced before. It was and still is foreign. Trying to achieve the goals we had set for ourselves at the beginning of “20plenty” was an extreme sport. Some succeeded, some didn’t and that is perfectly fine. Being here, today & having survived 2020 is THE GOAL. My deepest condolences to everyone that lost a loved one last year, COVID-19 related or not. May your hearts be at ease.   Apart from losing so many I knew and loved last year, it is safe to say I had a good year. It was difficult, but good. I only had one goal at the beginning of last year and that was to pass my 2 nd year at University and I did just that. Adjusting to Onli...

If you know anything about the “A Determined Black Woman” brand, you know that we are pro-black and pro-woman. Today we have a very “On Brand” instalment for you guys. Today’s blog post is in collaboration with four of my favourite local black and woman owned businesses. If you weren’t aware, this is the last blog post of 2020 and I thought I should give you guys something light hearted, inspirational and influential. The aim of this blog post is to prompt you to make intentional decisions to buy and support black and woman owned business .Help them grow and cement themselves into entrepreneurship. Sihle Mboniswa @make-upbysihle_m Sihle Mboniswa is a self-taught make-up artist based in Khayelitsha, Phakamisa. Like most self-taught MUA’s as they are abbreviated, she learnt her impeccable skills on YouTube. Sihle’s artistry does not focus on extreme transformation that make make-up seem like a scam. Her artistry focuses on enhancing her client’s beauty so they don’t feel completely...

  I spend most of my time on social media. I just find the space very informative and easy to engage with open mined strangers. Sometimes it can be toxic, that is when I know I have overstayed my welcome. So, the other day a Twitter user posed the question, “ What is the theme for this December? ” @Tumi213 replied and said “ Consent, okwe consent madoda. ” His response was striking to me because consent is a concept I have wanted to dissect, understand thoroughly and share it with my readers. It was also interesting to me how he managed to change the conversation from something light-hearted as a December theme to something as serious as consent. Consent is something we as a society have little regard for and take lightly. This is visible in the number of rapes that take place in our country. According to the South African Police Service, a woman is raped every 36 seconds.   Sexual Consent means actively agreeing to engage in sexual activities with someone and lets them kn...

  Gender-Based Violence is a profound and widespread problem in South Africa. GBV disproportionally affects women as a result of a system deeply entrenched in cultures and traditions that see women as possessions. I believe societies free of GBV do not exist, however, our country is at the leader board of something very dehumanizing to women. When we speak of GBV, our minds quickly run to physical abuse because it is the most visible and prominent form of abuse. However, it is usually accompanied by other forms of abuse that we will be looking at in this blog post.   These are the 4 most common types of abuses: ·       PHYSICAL ABUSE Any act which causes bodily harm as a result of unlawful physical force. Physical force can be serious or minor assault which may result in manslaughter or murder as we have seen in many GBV cases in our country.   ·       Sexual Abuse Any sexual act performed on an individual wi...

It wouldn’t be authentically me if I didn’t start this off with something very close to my heart. Not only is it something I am very passionate about advocating against, it is also on a steady incline in this country and our government is dragging its feet to fight it, to fight for us and our existence. It is non-other than Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. Simply put, GBV is any act of violence that results in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women whether in public or private. This form of violence is most common in romantic relationships. Femicide on the other hand is understood as the intentional senseless killings of women just because they are women by immoral men. Black women have been subjected to Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in this country for years. Our foremothers fought off their husbands and stayed in abusive marriages for the sake of their children they would say. They fought off white police men who forced themselves unto them during apa...

I am Ncumisa Lerato Kunana, a 21-year old BA in Politics and Communication Studies 2nd year student at the University of the Western Cape. I am passionate about reading and writing about issues that affect black women . In this blog, I will be communicating my thoughts on social issues that affect us as black women and bring about ideas from academic scholars who have spent time researching these issues. Not only will it be about long standing social issues that affect black women but it will also be about current social issues that reflect issues black women have always faced but for some reason have re-surfaced, for example; the clicks/Tresemme advertisement saga.   I want to create a community of black women that come together to teach, learn and unlearn issues that directly affect us as a people. This blog will combine both of my passions, writing and teaching. I am a lover of unconventional teaching and I advocate for learning outside the walls of a classroom. This blog will b...