Story Scarves in Soweto, South Africa
If social change occurred ‘overnight’ there would be no need for another rising in our community. The one-in-three ratio hasn’t budged. Is abuse so ingrained in our society that the majority of South Africans turn a blind eye? If so, why rise again?
Rising disquiets the silence of apathy.
Disrupts the calmness of immunity.
Agitates widespread indifference.
Questions acceptance.
Rouses dialogue.
Stirs interest. Intentionally.
Prompts action. Repetitively.
Is present. Here, at grassroots.
Our Story Scarves leadership group rose with One Billion Worldwide for the third year in a row. Incomprehensible life experiences brought these young women to this healing circle. Their growth and understanding of self, over the past three years, is what now makes them accidental activists and agitators for transformation.
Abundant publicity surrounded our first rising. This year, we were the only group to rise in Gauteng. There was no hype, no hoopla.
Just us…the chore and the crux of the issue:
Girls, whose virginity is violated without their consent; Girls, whose bodies are sold in exchange for a meal, toiletries and a floor to sleep on; Girls abused and abandoned by sugar daddies falsely promising love; Girls forced to go for back street abortions with dire consequences; Girls from child headed households quitting school to become the mothers they’ve lost; Girls claiming meager government grants that misleadingly leave them to wallow in poverty.
The chain of continuous exploitation must be broken. These are the young women that can and will break it. They are the early adopters of today and the trailblazers of tomorrow. They will affect change by extending their reach and leading their peers. Expressive artistry, in all its modalities, is our language. Craftivism resonates within our hands. We are humble agitators, agitating for reform; one revolutionary djembe beat at a time.
