An ode to the writers of my world
From page 1
This became problematic as my encounters with racism in South Africa started to make me realise that being black meant something in my context — it meant that I was somehow inferior and that my stories were not worth telling or sharing.
It was at this stage of my development that I started to avoid books written by white men. I stubbornly read books written by black authors, and as I started to bring black stories to the centre of my reading experience, I was affirmed in my identity in various ways. The world that I had cultivated through reading, along with my imagination, finally became complete.
In my early years in high school, I was particularly impacted by Tsitsi Dangerembga’s Nervous Conditions. Apart from the startling and seemingly callous first line — “I was not sorry when my brother died” — I was captivated by the beautiful coming of age story, which depicted two young women, Tambu and Nyasha, as they represented two different ways of dealing with the constraints that society places on black women and girls. Their experiences have coloured by own life as I navigate the persistent structures of power and privilege that continue to dictate what I as a woman can and cannot do. I have also been greatly affected by the works of Chinua Achebe, Zora Neale Houston, Toni Morrison, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Maya Angelou, Kgebetli Moele and, more recently, Shonda Rhimes, to name a few. The books of female black writers in particular have taught me that I can be young, black, female, intelligent and liberated all in a single breath, and not have to apologise for it.
Like Sachs, I have learned to be grateful for all the books that have taught me that I can unlock different worlds, particularly the ones which I once considered as belonging outside of the realm of possibility for a woman like me. I am particularly appreciative of the black writers who have completed my world by writing stories that have shown me that I can inherit the earth. The writers of my world have wrecked and built my life in various ways, and made me proud to say my name.