And still we raise

Last year I went to the African American History Museum in Detroit and their motto was "And still we raise".

Its symbolism is crystal clear: After all the unfairness, mistreatment, discrimination, violence, inequity, judgement and injustice, after all the suffering and misery and pain and agony, they endured. They are strong, they stand, they raise, they fight.

They fight for social justice, they fight for their ancestors, for the dead and the living, for the past and the present, they fight everyday.

And so I understood how important it is to know our past, to know where we are and how we got here, to be grateful for what we have got but to be humble and solidary with those who are not as privileged.

Some weeks ago my mum went to South Africa, you know what she found? Symbolic Gender Violence runs deep in every single bit of land we step on, but still we raise.