For the longest time I didn't realise the power I had, a young black woman penetrating the media space. My job is to produce content for a popular television show, that basically means I influence people's talking points. I influence how they perceive things,in short, I influence their opinions. That's quite a lot of power don't you think? But that power doesn't really mean anything if you can't use it right, use it to spread the right message and act as a catalyst for change.

To start off my quest for change, I'd like to address something I feel is not being given enough attention. I want to speak to the black child, I want an honest conversation with you. As much as we don't want to admit it because we are now "woke" but the truth is we are a product of our upbringing. For so many of us black children, we grew up believing that  we are less than. Our measurement of "better" is measured by white standard. Our decision making is influenced by western ideology. To put it bluntly... we aspire to be approved by white standards.

Many say it's been 20 years of democracy and we shouldn't still be blaming apartheid for black poverty... But how are we supposed to fix 500 years of injustice in just 20 years?!

Let's start here, for as long as a 20 something year old is the first to graduate in the family, for as long as children have to be watched by a grandmother in a village while the parents go seek work in the city, for as long as you spend 2 hours in public transport to travel from a township to the suburb where you work, for as long as you still have to queue outside the offices of NSFAS and display your poverty so you may get financial aid and get a qualification, for as long as you can't ask your parents to help you with doing your taxes because they still get paid in an envelope... you my black child are not free.

Freedom is more than just white people allowing us into their space. It's more than just going to a multiracial school and getting into a restaurant and ordering sushi. It's about breaking the chains of slave mentality. Allowing yourself to grow in the conciousness of your blackness. It's about supporting black business, it's about uplifting the township and restoring pride in the black community.

For as long as we are shy to address these issues, we will never grow as black people. We should be unapologetic about who we are. We should be proudly black!