Black, so much associated with the colour. Black magic,black sheep of the family, black, black and more black. This is my personal quest in finding out what it means to be black.
A paper produced by SASO says;"We have defined blacks as those who are by law or tradition politically, economically and socially discriminated against as a group in the South African society and identifying themselves as a unit in the struggle towards the realization of their aspirations." However, i don't think that this is how I, as a black woman, would choose to describe myself, nor do i think the New S.A would like to be defined.
As i said in the beginning, this is merely a search for what black is. In the break down of the fore mentioned quote, it continues to say that Being black is not a matter of pigmentation - being black is a reflection of a mental attitude. What attitude? I ask myself. Is it about the mentality that the world owes me something, because i'm historically disadvantaged? What is this attitude that they speak of?
Putting pen to paper, i start to make a list of what i think being black is about, since it's not about my skin colour. However firstly, i ask myself the question, "is it really not about my skin colour?" Seriously people! ofcourse it's about my skin colour, but, that proverbial but, there must be more to being black than meets the eye.
The night is said to be black, and historically, the dark held a sense of mystery, the unkown. Using this example, I look at being black as having a mysterious element of which others don't necessarily see. Steve Biko says, "Merely by describing yourself as black you have started on a road towards emancipation, you have committed yourself to fight against all forces that seek to use your blackness as a stamp that marks you out as a subservient being."
Having read the inspired words of the late Steve Bantu Biko, and assessing the day to day interactions amongst black people i am compelled to agree with him. Being black is about so much more that skin colour; just because my skin is dark doesnt make me black. Being black is about having pride in who I am, holding my head up high about being a daughter of the soil; embodying African values; It might have been over done, but yes, Ubuntu is part of that. Lacking any of these makes me a non-white, or should we say a non-black.
So tell me, daughters and sons of the mother land, what is black? It's in the rythm and song of the people; it's in the jazz, the soul, the mbhaqanga; it's in the gyration of its people. whether you are in the USA, Europe, Australia, etc. There is that cord that keeps you connected lest you fall; that calls you and says you are mine. however, it's not in the colour of your skin, it's in the mind of the emancipated, mentally free...I still ask, what is BLACK?