STUDIO83

"So, what are you?."
This is a question which, depending on where you come from and are now living, you either never hear or hear too many times. I was born, bread and buttered in Gauteng. I've been living in Cape Town for some time. This means that I get this question quiet a lot. How so? Let give you an example of a scenario. I would be happily chatting away with Qaqamba and Xolani at some random Long street hangout. The medium of communication would normally be a mix of English and isiXhosa. Then, Themba walks past and we fist bump and exchange greeting in isiZulu. Maybe then my phone would ring and it's my mom. I would converse with her in Setswana. By the time my attention is back to the topic at the table, my companions have a look of slight curiosity and confusion. Invariably one of them, without fail, would ask me, "ek se, what are you jo?".

For the past two years or so my answer to this question has been, "I am South African." The response would then be a few "get outa here" giggles. "Like seriously now, what are you?". The thing is though, I'm dead serious. I'm not being funny or trying to sound cool. Being South African is my only true, single most  appropriate description of who I am. But, alas, society begs to differ. "Of course, you are South African, we all are", society would say, with a condescending grin. "But besides that what are you?"

Well, Mr. Society, the answer is not as simple your stereotypical mind would like it to be. I believe you want to know what cultural background I come from? What clan name do I answer to? What's my family's theme song is, right? Sorry, Mr. Society, I have no answers for you. Why not? Well, maybe you can help me out. My father was part Zulu and part Xhosa but was raised in Setswana and Afrikaans environments. My mother is part MoSotho and part MoTswana. Racially, she is half Coloured and black. I have a Xhosa surname, a Zulu name and i speak 6 languages. So, Mr. Society, what do you suggest I be. "You are Xhosa", a patriarchal system would shout out. Really? But I only have the surname. No one in my family can speak the language. We do not have any relatives in some rural joint. "Well, maybe you are MoTswana", come on Mr Society. Why? I only speak the language. If i grew up with English would that make Kate my cousin twice removed?

"Well, then you are lost." Yes, I knew you would say that at some point. "If you don't know where you come from you don't know where you are going", you say while wiggling your judgmental finger at me. You are half right. By, "come from", I'm assuming you don't mean my physical address. You mean where am I from within my cultural sphere. Well, my cultural address and my physical address are actually the same, I shit you not. "Blasphemy!!". Not so fast you forgetful dimwit. You are going talk to about history and where a people come from aren't you? Do you know that some centuries ago your beloved Xhosa tribes did not exist? Can you imagine the commotion caused by the pioneers of the Xhosa people when they broke away from the Nguni nation? You can't? Well, listen closely because the speakers of cultural dissension are blaring full blast.

The thing is, Mr. Society, centuries from now a people will wax poetic about the rhythm of the service delivery protest. Flashing the symbolic All Stars and denim jeans as traditional garb. The pulse of the djs' mixes running deep in their veins. The dusty streets of kasie and concrete jungle of the cities shall be the birth place of such a people. With no single culture to claim but a multitude to celebrate. Fluent in languages you cannot even fathom. Your oral tradition is failling you. It only works when those with the knowledge are still alive. It is also, sadly, subject to poor memory and bastardized by personal interpretation. My culture is recorded in more ways than you can imagine. My descendants will not just have a vague clue about their origins. They will have each day documented in detail. You feel sorry for me, don't you? How wrong I am, you lament. Well, wrong or right, there is the way things should be and there is the way things are. Maybe i am wrong, you right. Whose to say? What I do know is that I am NOT Xhosa, I AM THE FUCKING FUTURE!