LINDIWE

Performative activism is killing my people. I’m actually messing lol, these are not my people. These people don’t like talking about Black lives. These people don’t like being uncomfortable. These people are performative activists. These people are far more concerned with comfortability and performity. Forreal though, ain’t nobody woke. Aren’t mf’s tired of pretending? Twitter fingers is really what’s killing my people.   White people wanna be oppressed so bad. So so so bad. Everyday why can’t I say the n-word? Everyday why can Black people do that and we can’t? Everyday just because I’m not Black I can’t do that? It’s crazy because two plus two isn’t always four. You’re not Black. You might want to be, but you’re not. The lack of progression is exhausting. Ignorance must be exhausting. Everyone is mad that Black people want to treated as equals. Deep it. Cauc-dacity is enabling people to think Black people are reaching, to think what’s BEEN happening for four hundred years is no...

For the longest time, I’ve really struggled with my identity as a young Black woman. Having lived a predominant proportion of my life in a white, conservative area and not having been overly familiar with Black spaces until I went to uni, there were a lot of things which made me question who I was. My parents have always been very good at reminding me that I’m Black and Zimbabwean, but identity goes beyond those two factors. As much as I appreciate and love my white friends, there are a lot of things about being Black they will never understand, and particular topics of discussion which can sometimes only ever reach a certain point before they become redundant. As Black women, finding individual identity is something I think many of us have struggled with because at home its traditional roles aligned with African culture and at school/work it’s microaggressions that implicitly tell us we can’t be ourselves. Being told that you’re too loud, too confident and sometimes ‘too black’ are ...

Why are Black people always policed for things white people choose to appropriate? Why is it okay for white people to do everything we’ve BEEN doing? You appropriate our hair, fetishize our men, pick and choose when you want to be Black, and appropriate everything that belongs to US, but we’re still the problem. Make it make sense.   The term ‘blackfishing’ is a term used to describe those who fake tan to a point where they could pass for another race. Blackfishing is a topic of discussion which contaminates the world wide web and is just a modernised way of executing blackface; its often escorted by an immense about of obtuseness. Contrary to belief, the problem is not premised in the fact that you’re using fake tan. The problem is premised on the fact that they're culturally appropriating Black skin. Nobody ever wants to admit that they’re trying to achieve a specific aesthetic and there’s always bare excuses for why tanning to try and attain racial ambiguity isn’t something ...

#BLACKLIVESMATTER I feel in the plight of everything that is happening and everything that is yet to happen, it is really highlighting the very, very prevalent ignorance which pollutes the internet. It is not by force to do up twitter fingers for the sake of saying something. It is actually okay to not know the answers; it is okay to educate yourself before saying something. A lot of people do not know Black history like that and do not know why we are fighting so hard for change and that is okay. Having said that, some people have the knowledge, some people are well informed, some people understand the political climate but still choose to be obtuse to what is right in front of them. It is not the oppression Olympics. It is not a matter of one life being of more value than another. It is a simple acknowledgement that #BlackLivesMatter. They always have and they always will. The projection of valuing and acknowledging Black lives has been a concept which has not and is not reflecte...