WHAT IS THE CAPE TOWN INSIDER?

What's the tea? Well, it may be hard to swallow.

Image sourced from @TeaCupandShade on Twitter.

The Cape Town Insider, unlike that which the name might suggest, is not another gossip blog . . . but fear not, for the tea is piping hot with this one.

This blog represents, to me, the light I carry within. This is the same light I brought with me in a suitcase when I travelled to Cape Town for the first time in my life in January of 2017. Then, it was an innocent light filled with curiosity and wonder, ambition and hope. This blog is what that light looks like today.

They say the grass is not always greener on the other side, it is greener where you water it. But Cape Town is in a drought so .. What must happen?

The city is "approaching day zero" but this blog is here to show that day zero was in 1652. Our problems in the Western Cape began years before this drought but more on that later; I'll begin this story at its genesis.

My journey started at Stellenbosch University, where I had initially enrolled to study my BCom Economics and Law degree, but my light could not rest there. After a mere six weeks, I had outgrown that small student town and yearned for something greater. And so UCT became my university.

Here, my light became a kaleidoscope as I found myself immersed in a realm of possibility, a place where my light would shine positively. This feeling, however, did not last very long. Most UCT students' career in the field of whyling begins at the precise moment first year orientation week ends. The rest of 2017 was a movie filled with scenes of love, tragedy and everything in between. And now I am here.

I have a learnt a lot about the world by living in a microcosm that embodies so much of what is wrong with the world. Cape Town is a beautiful picture yet in this place, I almost lost my light. Last year I found this paper town to be so tiring - between the constant struggle of having to prove that my existence is valid as a queer, black young academic, and the stress and the anxiety caused by the trying to remain a queer, black young academic, (with the exclusion rates at the university, the latter point could easily have changed) I found my heart calling for Johannesburg, my home.

But it was too late to turn back and so this year I came with a light so faint it seemed it would glimmer once and disappear and, importantly, a fresh pair of eyes, looking for an answer where in the previous year I had only found questions.

And the profound answer was . . . The world is f*cked up, although I suppose anyone could have guessed that.

Beyond the wonderful table mountain and the number one university in Africa, I saw a city that was built on colonial power - a power which disguises itself so well today. These days talking about race, sex, religion, sexuality and class is often not tolerated. "Why must everything be about race?" the Sea Point, white, stay-at-home mom asks, as she sips on her mimosa and flips a page in a gossip tabloid, over brunch at an upmarket restaurant in Camp's Bay.

Well, I suppose the answer lies not so far away, where, in Khayelitsha my people are still battling the housing issue that this "hypothetical" lady, Jackie, seems to have forgotten.

This blog may start a few awkward conversations, but change is never comfortable. To have a seat at the table, we all need to check our privilege at the door. The Cape Town Insider is a lighthouse shining its light on the important issues society has lost at sea.

Inside Lesedi is not a social interest blog, but a self-interest biographical display of art and poetry and anecdotal extracts about the three most important people in my life - me, myself and I. Inside Lesedi is a declaration of self-love and love for others and my journey as I strive to change the world.

The BLK Academic Insider is a lens into the mind of a budding, young, black academic. This kind of discourse is important too - I do not want to put out solely my opinions, but also a collective, researched, data using and contributing to academic schools of thought. I invite my fellow (Black) academics to email me in from the contact section of this website if they too would like to share their (Black) excellence. Let us collaborate and grow a wealth of (Black) knowledge and power, for together, we shine even brighter.

If you're here and still reading, I hope you stay and be part of this journey. "Be a part of the love club, everything will glow for you" a song by Lorde sings. If that rule holds true, then let us glow together, and, collectively, be the light we wish to see not only in Cape Town, but the world at large.