Saturday 5 May 2012

To Dipuo Mahlatsi,my mother and bestfriend by Malaika wa Azania

by Malaika Wa Azania on Sunday, May 8, 2011 at 1:46am ·
To: Stalin

19 years ago you made a choice that would alter the course of your young life forever,a choice that you never could ever reverse.
It was at the zenith of political nervousness,when the country and its people stood between a rock and a hard place: to abandon the armed struggle or to continue with it.
You were a child yourself,a young soldier of the revolution,knowing no other family but the liberation movement that is the ANC,having no other desire but to advance its NDR.
It was at a time when society still had morals,when a child belonged to the community and when you,mother mine,was the womb that carried the hopes of your community of Soweto,which had come out of apartheid in tatters.
It was a time when the Boere were failing even the most intelligent of Black students,and so you had to give your education undivided attention.
But you had a choice to make.A choice that would change the course of your existence and cease life as you'd known it.
It was a choice between dying for your people,or living for one person.
It was a choice between a life of freedom,or a life of permanent duty.
You made the choice.

You chose to not abort me,despite what keeping me would mean.You chose to not abort me,despite the option being available.
But more than that,and for this i am eternally grateful,you chose to put your education and your career on hold,because you understood that the role of a mother is undoubtedly the most important career a woman can have.

In THINGS FALL APART,Chinua Achebe says:
"It's true that a child belongs to its father.But when a father beats a child,it seeks sympathy in its mother's hut.A man belongs to his fatherland when times are good and life is sweet.But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland.Your mother is there to protect you.She is buried there.And that is why we say that mother is supreme."

I thank you for being the permanent bridge across my sorrows.At no point did you ever push me away when i came before you weeping.I thank you for being patient,for understanding the person that i am,the person who often,i'm puzzled by myself.I thank you for the love,trust,hope and respect that you've showered me with,even at times when i wasn't worthy of their receipt.But above all that and more,i thank you profusely for believing in me when no-one else did.For believing in me when i'd given up in myself...and for allowing me,to be my own person without judging me,without expecting me to do or be anything more,or less.

You are not one in a million,you are a million in one.

With love
Your daughter
Malaika Samora Lesego Mahlatsi

PS: I will be waiting for my breakfast in bed! ;-)

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