I recently met a wonderful woman on twitter by the name of
Diane Brown. Upon checking her profile,
I started following her blog. I fell in
love with the way she expresses the truth in words. This was not my only discovery about this woman;
she had also released a book with a very intriguing title ‘THE SABI’.
The Sabi couldn’t have come at a better time in my life. I am currently on a journey to discovering
the African soil within me. This soil that
was washed away when I was born by the water that told me lies of who I truly
was. While growing up, I believed that I
was not African, it did not make sense, Africa was dark and I did not want to
be part of it. Self-hate was deeply entrenched in my being to a point that I
was not aware that I was denying and hating the very essence of who I was.
The Sabi took me on a journey that made me understand what
drew me to Diane in the first place.
Reading the Sabi was just confirming what had taken place in my spirit,
she was a messenger in my life. In the
book, Diane not only shares her story in the backdrop of the rife of apartheid,
but she also shares the history that is so common to all of us South
Africans. Very well written and
narrated, Diane took me by the hand and walked with me through what was a very
pivotal time in our country, a time that brings understanding to who I truly am. I have always wished to have a taste of what
it was like when our parents were fighting for a worthy struggle, when hope and
Ubuntu was the underlying cloth that made everyone stick together, a time where
everyone sought education because they realised that they needed to arm
themselves for a future struggle, a time where music was soulful and spoke
deeply to the inner man.
I laughed, I cried, I smiled and I got angry, but what is
for certain, is the joy I felt because through Diane sharing her life, she
gives so many people the courage to reflect within their lives and realise that
they too can stand for something and live a life worth composing music for.
Page 57 of the book stood the most out for me, the moment when she was caught
between life and death and a song came to resuscitate her. This song is the
song which gave my 2014, the year in which I turn the big three zero, a theme.
This song is by Shirley Bassey titled “I am what I am”.
“I am what I am, I am
my very own special kind of person, I beat my own drum, some say it’s foolish,
I say it’s pretty…It’s my world and I don’t give a damn about lost emotions…My
world so why not look at things from a different angle…Your life is a mess,
till you can say, hey world…I am what I am.”
I seek out mentors from powerful women, whether by their
consent or not, whether they know that they are mentoring me or not, I quietly
follow them and learn from their lives.
Through meeting Diane Brown and finally reading the Sabi, I have decided
that I will finally write the book which everyone has been pestering me
about. Diane too, believes that I could
write a book, it is this very belief that has started my flame to being called
an author someday.
Tweets between Diane and I:
@DianeBrownSA_: @malebosays I agree Malebo and it starts
early... right now! I will still tweet you from Los Angeles - and if u come by
u will visit me too!
@malebosays: @DianeBrownSA_ I'm going to celebrate the
entire year! Plus a book release, can you imagine? And I'll come through to LA
#dancing
@DianeBrownSA_: @malebosays Yes you are and I will be there
at those launches! Maybe one in LA?? So cool!
@malebosays: @DianeBrownSA_ anything is possible when you
are 30 he he he! We better keep these tweets then!
@DianeBrownSA_: @malebosays Agreed cause I will have to give
a short opening at the launch and say we knew this would happen! Beautiful
“Perhaps all South Africans need to embrace
the mirror of yesteryear, and fear it not, for it holds the answers to the
questions that we seek today. Questions that, if left unanswered, will still be
asked by generations yet to come.”
― Diane Brown, The Sabi
― Diane Brown, The Sabi
Name : The Sabi
Author : Diane Brown
Price : $9.99 (Kindle version on Amazom.com)
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