Growing up zulu I was taught many beliefs and practices. There are many that I hold dear to my heart. As part of the Nguni we are taught to carry our beliefs and lessons over to the next generation and to spread it to the people unaware of it. 

The practice of Ubuntu is one of the beliefs I hold dear to my heart. "Umumtu ngumuntu ngabantu", that is a Zulu phase that literally means a person is a person through other people. Ubuntu build societies. This has instilled morals values in my life. Ubuntu has is a way for everyone to show love and respect to everyone around them. It creates a sense of unity and empathy among communities. We are encouraged to uplift one another, for the purpose of the greater good.

Being spiritual connected to every thing around you is a big part of the zulu culture. We believe everything is connected. Having a good sense of spiritual identity is very important. Whether it is the religion or tradition. Having a sense of hope is good for the soul. Everything in the zulu culture is connected. For example the moon, month and traditional healer all have one name which is "inyanga". These are connected. One month is a full moon cycle and the moon is believed to have healing powers thus it's conntion to the traditional healers.

Beliefs like these have be woven into my identity. They affect the way I am and act towards people. Everything is interconnected from the past, present and future. It's defines our existence, purpose a D knowledge. 

My day started at 8am the first thing I  did was to jump out of bed and feel the cold tiled to walk to the fridge to drink my cold refridgerated water. I tend to start my day with water because I wake up thirsty. I will than walk to to my window and open it for fresh air.  I than walk to my desk to start with my BIBLE study, faith is the main source of energy for the day. this is where I find motivation.

After BIBLE study I  started to tidy up my room , make my bed and then I went to go get myself cleaned up. I showered and brushed my teeth, I could taste the fresh minty flavour tounge. after freshening up I went to go get dressed for school. During this whole process I was listening to music.

I then start making food for the day. I made oats. After that I started to walk to my 09:30 class. As I walked out the door the sent for fresh air hits me. 

Stereotypes and misinformation play a great role in painting a  negative picture of people who are viewed as different or inferior from the dominant class. This creates "otherness". 

Until recently I had no idea how many for my own thoughts, ideas and even the words I use contribute to the separation of people. Making myself and people who identify similar to how I identify could possible feel offended and inferior to me. These stereotypes and misleading information are usually made and manipulated to oppress the minority group. This is usually one sided to make the people make these details up seem more dominate and "better".

From my own observation and my own thoughts I have seen that in this day and age the people of the LGBTQ+ community still receive a lot of stigmatization and a lot of harmful stereotypes. They are made to feel unsafe in being who they truly are . They are the "others" of society. They are constantly dehumanized and are socially distanted from society.

Stereotyping is made to undermine understanding and empathy and to stop groups of different diverse backgrounds from standing in solidarity. Stereotypes need empathy and dedication to recognize the humanity of everyone not matter their background.