On the 1st of March 2016, I wrote an open letter. Not addressed to the sitting President. That letter was addressed to ‘Darkie’. It went viral, the hashtag #DearDarkie has since been used for many other letters.
I know and have known even then, that the word ‘Darkie’ can be used maliciously and in a derogatory manner. That has never been my intention, my use of the word comes from a good place. Think of it as Denzel Washington’s Training Day “my Nikka” kind of vibe. If you’re a white person, and always felt excluded by the hashtag, I hope you realize it now, “my nikka”.
Hey Bianca, it is important to understand that only Denzel can call his partner “my nikka”. The opposite is always catastrophic.
The hashtag has grown into something bigger than I had ever anticipated, at the time of that first letter, I probably had less than 500 friends here on Facebook, which I personally knew most of them. But today, it reaches far beyond our borders, and far more demographics than when I started.
It is for this reason that I have decided to evolve the hashtag into a brand that will resonate with the broader audience.
I present you dear.africa
It is so fitting that this evolution happens in the month that we also celebrate and commemorate our beautiful continent, Africa. May is Africa month.
From this moment on, all my posts regarding personal finances will be posted on a separate page created specifically for that purpose, as well on the blog. If you find yourself here today because of my #DearDarkie posts, I encourage you to follow and like the page, and subscribe on the blog to get notified when I post new articles.
I will close with a beautiful poem, enjoy.
Love Letter to Africa
Dear Africa
Your stories are found around fires
Over meals and handshakes
In street corners and corner shops
In buses and backyards
In living rooms and classrooms
The tourist is not the only lens we use to see you
We use our neighbours’ eyes
And our forefathers’ tongues to look at you
You are recipes passed down generations and generations
You are centuries of traditions and legacies
You are libraries and art centres
You are ululations at weddings and multilingual hymns at funerals
You are complex and beautiful
You have many narratives
You are a fabric with many borders
That ask us where we come from and where we are going
We come from here and there
And then and now
We use the pages of your histories
To map our own futures
We use your stories to see ourselves
And each other
Dear Africa
Our love for you
Unites us
Koleka Putuma
https://youtu.be/O66OW8q6k_o
Also, please follow all my other social media pages:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dearafrica_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dear.africa_/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dear.africa1/
dear.africa 