Freedom is not Free

[afrodiva]

#BlackTaxisLove because Love is giving what you don’t have - we do that for you black child to have a brighter future, one we never had, one we sometimes don’t hope to have in our lifetime. 🖤 (at South Africa) https://www.instagram.com/p/B15wyPUDSoT/?igshid=xuo7k285g889

[afrodiva]

Beautiful sunset view from Rooftop of @radissonredcpt during yesterday’s #MarihaXP event featuring @tmakcc and @shweshwekini Mariah designs. Appreciate nature showing up as we embrace culture and #BlackExcellence. (at Radisson RED V&A Waterfront, Cape Town)

[afrodiva]

#AfricaDay2018

#AfricaBucketList in pictures 

1) iSivivane at Freedom Park 2) Street Walk in Lilongwe, Malawi 3) African Union in Ethiopia 4) Fela Kuti Shrine in Lago, Ethiopia 5) Fish Market in Maputo, Mozambique 6) Wow’d in Nairobi, Kenya 7) Catching the Sunset on Zambezi River Cruise in Livingstone, Zambia (bonus: Victoria Falls & Boiling Point) 8) Street Food, Tilapia Fish from Lake Victoria, in Entebbe, Uganda 9) Climbing Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa with my Gift child 10) Checking out our Land in the Waterfront, Cape Town 11) Camel Ride near Pyramids of Giza in Egypt 12) Romantic Street Walk and Photoshoot in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 13) Carnival in the Seychelles 14) Soukes in Marrakech, Morocco 15) The Rock iconic restaurant in Zanzibar, 16) Door of No Return at Goree Island, Senegal 17) Sipping from a Coconut in beachside in Monrovia, Liberia 18) African Art Museum in N’Djamena, Chad 19) Historic Tour in Robben Island prison, South Africa and Makola Market in Accra, Ghana.

[afrodiva]

[afrodiva]

How will you take your place in standing for women’s equality and empowering women during and beyond SA Women’s Month? #imbokodo #IamWoman #LetWomenRise

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[afrodiva]

The Most Beautiful Girl in the World

A phenomenal artist, great humanitarian and a fighter! Prince showed us how to fight against capitalist bullies, reclaiming his art and producing music under the Simple which we could only inadequeatly verbalize as "The Artist formerly known as Prince."

 May he rest in paradise.

[afrodiva]

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My very own handmade pure Moroccan Argan Oil. #AfroDiva #afrotrip #travelogue (at Place Jemâa el-Fna)

[afrodiva]

"...my blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom..." was the final message from Solomon Mahlangu before his execution 36 years ago today. Mahlangu was wrongfully accused of murder and terrorism by the apartheid government for fighting against oppression. Ironically, today also marks the 363rd anniversary of when Jan Van Riebeck landed in South Africa, claiming our land for his people which brought about occupation of the land and subsequent suffering for the African people. Fast forward to today, the struggle continues! Africans own less than 20% of the land in this new South Africa; 1994 may have brought about political freedom but what Africans need more is economic independence and empowerment as well as emancipation from mental slavery which was hammered in by years of apartheid and Bantu education. It is not yet Uhuru as our Kenyan brothers and sisters would say, and yes Freedom is not Free. Aluta Continua!

[afrodiva]

On this Human Rights Day in South Africa, we celebrate the heroes and heroines of the Sharpeville massacre of 1960. It is also the International Day for Eliminating Racial Discrimination as declared by the United Nations. During this time, we also recognize the contributions of the many ordinary and extraordinary South Africans in the journey that shaped our independence.  

We particularly remember Steve ‘Kalamazo’ Mokone who died on Thursday, March 19th. In addition, to his role on the soccer field, putting South Africa and Africa in general on the world map in the world of sports, Mokone also played a critical role in organizing to have the then white South Africa dismissed from the  International Olympic Committee in support of sanctions against apartheid.  A great example of how one man used his role and influence to stand in the gap for our freedom and democracy. May many more of us continue to “stand in the gap” to advance the transformation required to make this South Africa a great nation.

On a personal note, we will miss our beloved uncle Steve, a man who stood in the gap, without hesitation and in fact with great determination for our family as an uncle, father, and grandfather. We will miss his unconditional love, unwavering support, and the very long weekly emails throughout our two-year stay in South Africa. And the occasional phone calls which for me always ended with: “Louise and I are very proud of you, I love you baby, say hi to Japie and Mandisa.” Rest in Power, Mokone!

[afrodiva]

Birthday Tribute to Joyce Siwani (nee Makwakwa)

"Perhaps I should tell you that the word 'homeland' to us has no warm meaning. The homelands established by the South African government are tribal death cells. They are filled with hungry women and children with no health facilities. The land is not fertile. If you drive through in the winter you want to cry out and scream. That is Africa's son and daughter, walking cold and barefoot and hungry three kilometers along the road to school." (Joyce Siwani, South Africa) - 1985 at the UN Women's Forum in Nairobi, Kenya.

Happy 75th Birthday to my aunt, Joyce Siwani, lovingly known as JoyJoy by her family and MamJoyce by many. Recently when speaking with an administrator from the University of Johannesburg and mentioning my relation to her, the administrator said: "oh sure, she's related to like 500 or so of our students." Former child welfare social worker who lives and breathes being an advocate for children and their families. It is truly an honor to have grown up in the presence of such love and dedication.

A descendent our great heroine Nokutela Mdima Dube, daughter of our fierce grandmother, founding member of the ANC Women's League and unionist, Louisa Dideka Mdima-Makwakwa and Auriel Makwakwa. Joyce Siwani is pioneer in her own right, a revolutionary feminist of note, whose tireless fight for Africa's children has her traveling to monitor elections in Mozambique on this her 75th birthday.

Saying "when I grow up I want to be like her" is a given as she worked with the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) 20 years before I would meet Dr. Height and work with NCNW; she also attended Inanda Seminary 20 years or so before I would. So there, she's still blazing the trail for me and many other women to follow in the next 20 years and beyond.

Happy Birthday JoyJoy!

[afrodiva]

As we celebrate Spring Day, South Africa also ushers in Heritage Month. This year we are urged to celebrate our heritage by telling our story in a way that moves South Africa forward. We each come from a reach cultural history. I look forward to honoring and celebrating our real cultyral heritage, not Braai Day, but the true heritage of our people and our land. Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika!!!

[afrodiva]

Women's Month - South Africa 2014

As we kickoff Women's Month, we celebrate and highlight the "Rocks" of our struggle and continuing journey to heal and build a nation.  Today salute South Africa's everyday woman who protects and volunteers herself to keep her family, community and society going.  You are the bedrock of our society!

As we wear our "doeks" (headwraps)--mine is on my bag today--in recognition of our struggle and force, we also remember the more than 200 girls in Nigeria who have been in captivity for 109 days today, #bringbackourgirls.  We also pray for the women, men and children of Palestine that they may experience peace and freedom.

Aluta Continua!

[afrodiva]

Eyebrow game so strong, eyelash game so vicious, facial glow on point. My babygirl is going to #prom #matricdance y'all.

[afrodiva]

Really?

[afrodiva]

Today marks how far into the new year a woman in the USA would have to work in order for her salary to catch up with that of her male counterparts with same experience, background, etc. Women still earn 23 cents less on every dollar a man make. #equalpay

[afrodiva]

A well deserved salute to the legendary civil rights leader. However since her passing, from her obituary to later writeups, all have had a deafening silence on her trailblazing work in international development. Dr. Height launched NCNW's International Division in 1975 becoming the first and only African American women's organization working in Africa through a TWINNING agreement with African women's organizations long before it was trendy to do so. Focusing on institution building even long before capacity building of African institutions was ever on the radar of many in international development or even funding institutions. Her visionary leadership reverberates throughout the continent from former protégés in Senegal, now Minister of Agriculture to a vibrant civil society community in Egypt as a result of her pioneering work throughout Africa. With regional offices in Southern, West Africa and North Africa and a country office in Eritrea, Dr. Height advanced a regiinal hub strategy for NCNW's work in Africa a whole decade before any of the African regional blocks like SADC, etc., would be formed in the 80s. She understood the ties that bind African and African American women were greater than the waters that decided us and sought to improve the quality of life for women, their families and communities. Dr. Height often said that black women seldom did what they wanted but always did what they have do. Her work continues through the many organizations and women she touched in Africa.

[afrodiva]

We Remember Sharpeville 21 March 1960 A gross violation of human rights took place with the state murder of innocent protesters in Sharpeville. South Africa has an ugly and painful history from which we learn to forgive and build a new nation. We stop to commemorate and ask for strength on our journey forward for the beloved South Africa. Aluta Continua!