Toni Morrison on distraction

“The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary. There will always be one more thing.” Toni Morrison

I have been meditating on these words lately. Finding myself slowly dipping into a dark hole which looks like depression and despair. One has to stop and figure out what has brought them to that point. Yes I get it, just by being black alone, is a cause for a constant nervous condition. As Bongani Madondo uttered at this year's #openbookfestival, South Africans at this juncture are really stuck in a state of anxiety. And so when we find ourselves here, how do we allow ourselves joy, peace and some laughter? On top of battling with the distractions that comes with racism. One is constantly trying to prove their blackness to their fellow blacks, or their wokeness as it were. We must understand that existing today comes with loads of contradictions. Contradictions because we have so much to unlearn.