My mother has never laid a finger on me but like any other child I was michievious. She would calm me down and tell me not do whatever it was I was doing wrong. My friends who were disciplined by getting hit would come back the next day and do the very same thing.
Mother was working in Eastern Cape and we were living in Kwazulu-natal. I saw the struggle she went through with going back and forth between the two provinces to work and home in the month end. This also meant that she was barely home. And again as a high school scholar and teenager, I tried many illegal things. She knew I would be naughty when she wasn’t there but again she sat me down and told me how hard she is working to keep us in school, it got to a point where she threatened not to pay for my fees if I was going to be fooling around. So i pulled my socks up and i have never looked back. But note she still never laid a finger on me.
Today, I know the value of education because of the way I was raised. Using violence to defuse a situation has never been a familiar tactic to me even as a child who barely knew anything about the world, I knew talking could solve everything.
The national shut down that took place today saw 15 universities being shut down due to an unreasonable fee increment for 2016. Wits University marks 7days today since we have been protesting. I am proud to say that I have been part of this revolution since last week. I never want to threatened with the reality of not being able to be educated. Nor should anyone else, this is why i was protesting.
Students like me were brutalized and injured across the country by the South African Police. The government has allowed violence to be a problem solver for this crisis instead of talking to us, negotiating, communicating with us. Now in my mind I find it hard to understand how they expect us, students, to refrain from continuing to protest. We will come back untill we are addressed. This situation cannot be defused by hurting us. Our desperation and passion to learn is bigger than that.
My Mother is an educator for the same government that is refusing us our right to study by encreasing fees. Some of the jobs available for people back in my mothers days were being a Teacher, Policemen and/or Nurse. We are living in the generation of Doctors, Presidents and Engineers. My mother is 50 years old and enrolled at a university for Labour Law and I have never seen her so content. Being raised by such a passionate and wise woman I have picked up a few things.
Getting an education is not only urgent but mandatory for the freedom of a black person. And never underestimate the power of black women. I have learned that my necessity as a young black woman in this country is vital, especially in times like these. We are running a revolution! #BooksNotBullets #ProtestnPass #NationalShutDown #FeesMustFall #OurGovernmentIsAFraud #FreeEducationInOurLifetime
Aluta!