Are we losing our culture?

What is it that you understand by 'culture'? Semi-dressed natives in animal skin attire, dancing about and singing traditional songs? Is that really what our culture has been reduced to? Have we been consumed so much by Western culture that we belittle our own culture and see it as ancient and rather an embarrassment to practice? Are we unwillingly succumbing to a new way of life, the 'modern' way where we neglect our culture?

Maybe I should first start by point out what exactly our (black people) culture is because I'm pretty sure most of us have no idea. One of the most fundamental aspects of our culture is the importance we attach to man. Ours is a man-centred society. We take comfort in associating with others. In a community, everybody knows everybody and we all know each other's problems and stories. We also believe in sharing. Enriching those who find themselves in a less fortunate position. This is called Ubuntu, that's our brainchild after all. In the words on Archbishop Desmond Tutu, "A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed"

Growing up all we knew was to go outside to play with other children. We didn't have to create an imaginary friend like our Caucasian brethren, we had a surplus of friends. This is one of the reasons we're loud, it's in our genes. We want to be heard by our many friends. Let them not shhh us because they're used to whispering to their imaginary friends. We love music, boy do we love music. Every game we played as children was with most certainty accompanied with a song. We sing when we're sad, when we go to war so we can combat the fear in our heart and most importantly, we sing when we're happy. We have rhythm so with song comes dance. We dance to express ourselves, it's the best form of expression we know. That's why they mock us when we strike and say we not angry about what we're marching about because we're dancing. They couldn't be any wrong, we are angry and we express our angry in march while singing struggle songs.

Our culture involves a lot of beliefs but one that sticks out is our believe of ancestral powers. A believe that the minority have dismissed as deficient. We are made to believe in Karma and Blessings instead. Some go as far as to say ancestral belief is going against God. This is NOT true. We need to embrace our ancestors, that's our culture. You can be a Christian and still give thanks to your ancestors. A lot of people will interpret the bible the way they see fit to match their culture and belief, don't be quick to listen to them. We believe in ancestors and we also practise lobola. Stop trying to look up every bible scripture to convince us that it's wrong, this is our culture.

We also slaughter animals when we are having family gatherings or celebrations. This is not barbaric. The animal is a token of thanks to our ancestors. It's easy to call us barbaric and then go off and buy your McDonald burger as if the meat fell from the sky like manna from heaven. We have a vast amount of cultures with different traditional attire. We NEED to feel proud of dressing in our traditional attire out in public without people thinking we're benighted. America dedicates a full month to celebrate black awareness and black history. The black people in America are the minority. Here in South Africa we are the majority but yet we have only one day to celebrate our culture. 24 September is Heritage day, the only day where you're not made to feel peculiar for dressing in traditional attire in the city yet we celebrate Good Friday and Christmas day with relative ease as if it were indigenous.

Who do we blame for this repudiation from our culture? Is it our parents who have neglected to educate us? Is mixing with Caucasians making us feel that their ways are better? Is it the influence we get from Western culture via television and social media? Whatever is it, it has to stop. We NEED to take pride in our culture, we NEED to embrace it, cultivate it and pass it down to our children and their children to come. No one will preserve our culture for us if we don’t, unfortunately. Let's take pride in our culture, behaviour and lifestyle. Let no one make us feel inferior for being ourselves.

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