“Our culture is not oppressive” says Ayanda Borotho
“Our culture is not oppressive” says Ayanda Borotho
Ayanda Borotho wants to dismantle the narrative that black culture is oppressive.
Promoting her latest role as Vakashile Buthelezi in Mzansi Magic’s uZulu noMhlaba, the actress addressed some of the misconceptions about culture. “Our culture is not oppressive. It’s people who use it as an oppressive tool. Our culture is beautiful. It is sacred. It is a safe place. We should never find ourselves incomplete because of it when it is the very foundation of the identity that completes our story,” she wrote.
“All my life I grew up being told that men were the custodians of culture. I could not speak on it, nor question it as a woman. It was a notion I could neither understand nor accept when ‘ as a woman’ I got the raw end of the stick [as far as] ‘culture’ or kwashobona is concerned,” she wrote.
Ayanda reflected on how she had been challenged publicly and privately by men and women who believed she should not cross boundaries.
“I have been bullied by men who believed they were above me in the spaces I worked. Women too will ride the wave. The Phumelele storyline was no mistake and one day I will tell you about the wars I had to fight.”
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