In modern day times, Zulu people have been dubbed to be awfully stubborn and violent in their ways, whereby these attributes have been mostly prominent amongst men. Although, being a member of the Zulu tribe myself I argue that there is more than what meets the eye within cultural fabric that make us fantastically unique and humbled beings too. And so, this reflective piece aims to enlighten others about endogenous beliefs within the culture.

Our socio-cultural fabric lies with a hierarchy amongst members of society and within the household context. There is belief that in doing this, conversely translates to order and structure in the running's of decision making and cultivation of harmony. Therefore, all elders hold higher standing position amongst the young and this even goes with gender roles. These clear boundaries inform how others should conduct themselves and this makes it easier to function upon the principle of ubuntu due to mutual arrangement of society. And this is why when a younger person may be acting out, another elder from the outside may intervene for the purpose of disciplining. Making respect to be something heavily stressed on from the young.

Another one would be that there is belief in higher powers which are founded on binary terms, this being in God and good ancestors or the evil one. Meaning that the existence of life transcends to higher levels than the comprehension of living men. And as a way to thank or worship these higher entities, sacrifices or means of communication is made depending on which side you choose to take as an individual. The essence of belief cans thus further translate to that life is spiritual as the existence of energies stand to be true and alters living realities.

THE following reflective piece of writing will look at the subject of exchange and reciprocity within the surrounding context of those I have relationships with spanning from my family to my friends and others.

I belong to a family of three that being my mother, brother and myself. Being exposed to the phenomenon of single parent family structure has really worn away the essence of what makes a father, as my mother embellishes this role like many other single mothers do so. What makes matters worser now is that my elder brother has failed to live to the expectations of what elder children should do such as parenting the younger ones and having to assist in financial terms. This has all been left to my mother who herself did not have a comfortable upbringing. Seeing my living conditions even through the sacrifices of my mother all in the name of having to provide for the family, I am also conversely left with a huge gap of having to continue where she has stopped once I am in a financial position to do so. I obviously know that I owe it to her big time however that will be my start of a bigger contribution of gratitude.

In the African community there exists a humanly centred notion which is that of ubuntu, which calls upon for the greater significance of having to preserve human dignity. I have witnessed this from a greater portion of my family members whereby, they showed up for my intermediate family in times of financial need and mere support through their presence and interventions. Making it fair that I should also return the same courtesy to those who have done so. Obviously in this stance it may take the form of generalized reciprocity that may span from having to babysit some of nephews and nieces or helping out during family events.

I would describe myself as someone particular and in so doing I have rather been really selective of those that I associate myself with and consider to be friends with. As you cannot be vulnerable with everyone, whereby you can naturally feel comfortable with someone by the virtue of their energies, or you may connect with someone on the basis of interest levels. There are many different reasons that may explain why people decide to become friends however, what governs most relationships is the condition of mutual support, emotional support, being available for the other, learning seeds of growth from the other, doing things together and the list continues. In this way, the people within the friendship may benefit differently from each other, and the friendship may not look so balanced all the time. Although, I do believe that it is what that makes us human, with having to compromise, being tolerant and extending grace to the other person as who we come from different walks of life and have been exposed to different life conditions and belief systems.

This piece of writing aims to illustrate a day in my life, from the moment I wake up till up to my bedtime.

My mornings have been embroiled with fatigued wake ups than the spectator of a fresh wake up as I open my eyes; and this morning was no different. Whilst my ringing alarm only served as another torment to my fatigued body. After finally gathering the courage to get up I made my bed and ran the show water for a quick splash up. Unfortunately, leaving at a student accommodation leaves one with no privilege of hot water, especially in the mornings. Cruel, I know.

 I stand to say that choosing an everyday outfit is another tragic everyday ordeal that any girl has to face with, for which I am no different. Anyway, after finally picking my outfit, then followed my most favourite part of the day, opening the curtains, as my view rested on the site of tress, and nothing but openness. This was my everyday crowning scenery.

I then raced against time to make it early for class, which has been an everyday grapple. And as I brace myself for the day, my entire body endures it although, my face stages an untenable façade of bravado. Somehow through the changing phases of life I had managed to achieve an almost savourless outlook however yet, fixated on the current goal. My walk to campus was precisely that and all I could do was just to pass by people with unknown identities who held their own realities.

Eventually, I made it to campus and made my way to my first class. The lecturer was quite of a funky spirit and had the ability to make you guess what would be in store for you. I really admired this trait because it is almost as if you are left at the edge of your seat plus, he was quite handsome. Despite this, one of my struggle was over the fact that I never liked what I was studying, and most class lessons left me bored. Later class, I had manged to catch site of someone I wanted to talk with which, was really productive. I really thanked myself for having a conversation with her because she really helped me in my area of struggle. Then I made my way to the library. To finish an assignment, by the time I had to leave campus was when I had to prepare lunch.

Being a student also came with financial constrains and nothing grand was served for both lunch and supper time. Cannot complain. I continued with my assignment with casual mini breaks on the cell in-between. YouTube had turned to be my main source of a dopamine hit considering that I opted a life without social media just like the renowned gram. On the contrary side, owing to my spiritual commitments, my bible readings were something I could not skip before the end of day, and this was almost of a religious routine clustered with prayer. Although this would be done after I had prepared bed, worn my sleeping garments and moisturized my face and that was how I spent my day.   

I write this piece through the lens of being an African girl and who has been directly affected by the intellectual world, from a historical standpoint, I now have learned how power through literature becomes definitive. And that is by having to “show people as one thing over and over again and that is what they will become,” which was well said by Ngozi (2009) in a TedTalk presentation. In which the work of Wainana (2005) is also an outstanding example of such, as evidenced in his writing there is no form of dialect as the picture of the other is framed from the side of this self-proclaimed power figure.

In contemporary times, this power figure does not have to be an academic scholar, as seen in literature however, may it be this one figure put on an pedestal amongst the rest due to overexposure, overall acceptance and without critique. This was even made apparent in Ngoz’s (2009) work about how she never thought people like her could exist in literature. Being that the standard has sank in so deep that the black girl no longer stands visibility due to non-desirability even from preyful eyes of an hunter. She is probably pounded by jerry-built features especially for being a darker skinned women and so left in rejection. That even colourism has crept up even within the black community.

This overtly signals to me that how society has a problematic nature at best for we can only reconsider after damning evidence that proves otherwise. Which then highlights how easily we can omit our power in order to conform. The level superficialness at an all-time high.

In conclusion, the essence of Bart-Williams (2015) and Ngozi’s (2009) work acknowledge how identities were stolen and marked with inferiority, dependence, stereotypes and indignity, and now in exchange for the recognition of equal humanity especially directed at this one particular group of people. And to also have an overall tolerance and acceptance over differences as even with the Nacirema people.

References

Bart-Williams, M. 2015, 26 Jan. Change your channel | Mallence Bart-Williams | TEDxBerlinSalon [Video clip]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfnruW7yERA. Date of access 5 Mar. 2024.

Ngozi, C.A. critique. 2009, 7 Oct. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story | TED [Video clip]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg.  Date of access 5 Mar. 2024.

Wainaina, B., 2005. Granta. [Online]
Available at: https://granta.com/how-to-write-about-africa/
[Accessed 5 March 2024].