 PR-Kat Grudko-6001-277x325.jpg)
 PR-Kat Grudko-6001-683x1024.jpg)
An experience that moved me as an afro-descendent is when I did the Put Foot Rally through the 6 Southern African countries (from South Africa through Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and back into South Africa) in 2012. To see so many people wanting to explore their continent, people and cultures before the rest of the world ment so much to me. I think that it is so important for people to understand where they come from and for us to experience what goes on in our own country and in our bordering countries to truly understand who we are and how we fit in as Africans. I am a #RepresentationMatters ally an I am amplifying melanated voices by photographing real African people and documenting their stories by submitting them to Pichastock. It is important for me to be a part of telling the real and raw story of all Africans so that people around the world can see what Africa and Africans are really like.
i have my own little hashtag #NotOnOurWatch which is my [and others] daily commitment to interrupt racism wherever we see it - online and off - and so i am absolutely loving this space that amplifies black and hopefully coloured and indian and other groups that call Africa home. i have learned that i cannot self-identify as an ally because it means nothing coming from me - my words and actions and thoughts have to show to others that i see them and am fighting for them and want to make the world better for them. i try to use my platforms to raise the issues and host many conversations [predominantly on Facebook or YouTube] around race and privilege and inviting white people to do and be better. #RepresentationMatters for sure!
We were driving and my son pointed out a guy driving a very fancy sports car. He said "Daddy, that guy looks like Uncle Roy...i mean its not an old white guy" - he articulated what I had been struggling with, that even we though we have a great constitution in South Africa...the majority of our people from black or mixed heritage are still ignored and misrepresented here, our achievements, contested heritage, spaces and people are not recognised. #RepresentationMatters
You are now part of this movement
Click here to access your visual activist resource pack
Browse the live feed on the homepage to get to know fellow visual activists:
Follow @Visualactivist.me on Instagram