These were the words that stopped my breath the past Saturday, we had just wrapped our workshop with the children, and the learners had of course wanted to go play and enjoy the water outside of the course content,
It's funny because I haven’t been out with the learners in almost 2 years, in this time, we've partnered with I Am Water as an implementation partner to ensure continuity of the work while multiple worlds were unfolding, and so, this was my first time in a while where I had the opportunity to fully immerse myself in the joy of these first moments that had changed my life years ago, and clearly continues to, today.
In my time in the ocean space, I’ve heard it all, there’s very little I haven’t experienced, from race or the idea of normatives or questioning of competency but I definitely had never come across a statement so carelessly thrown, with intent.
Since the start of the foundation's work in 2021, our learners—primarily from Langa—were often the only Black people on the beach, and for us, our mission was clear: not only to educate about ocean conservation and inspire a love for exploring the oceans but to do so while being unapologetically Black—creating a space where we can fully express ourselves and take up space in these waters. To not be an inch smaller because ‘civilized societies’ or ‘white normatives’. Our work is to normalise Black people being water people too while in the fullness of our Blackness - not an inch of caving to assimilate or 'well behaved' enough for proximal approval.
Back to the experience... The learners were in the water in the most joyful and most nuanced way I know, it reminded me of Aventura when I was little, a water park we'd go to once a year that would have us screaming in glee from the pits of our stomach because water is joy, and it was shallow enough for us to play and be as loud and bold as we could feign… no one stopped us because everyone around us, was Black, we shared a culture of Joy that was nuanced to our community, this was THE way, before we all started gong to multiracial schools that worked to beat the Blackness out of us.
Her words pierced my heart but my relief danced before me, the children I work with still held the depth of Joy I know in ways you could not imagine, the absolute epitome of Black Joy in the water.
The dream, the work, the vision.
And so as this woman proceeded to make her way way down the stairs with the ‘THEY’ of her ‘THEY can be here, but do THEY have to be so loud’ intentionally thrown at me, I knew I wanted to let the kids have it all, to take up space in a Cape Town that is desperate for her people to take up space in all these beautiful places that are assumed to be for one.
The children brought energy and of course this energy would solicit stares as the kids played, and for me, laughter as I held shorts and tops and caps and coins… we had done many things today, aside from learning about the ocean a little bit deeper, we had done 2 things that were culturally relevant to us, there were sets of twins in the group and so, the ancestral placing and then proceeding to enter the water, and last, we had ended in Joy that I’m certain resonated beyond that tidal pool to reach the ancestors in the most powerful ways… unapologetic in every part of our existence.
In a world that beats our Blackness out of us, and a Cape Town that oozes class and race differentials based on who can be where, I for sure know, we’re in the right direction.
Ps, I use learners and children interchangeably because of how often we miss the delicacy and innocence of Black children, may we hold ever so intentionally, and hold ourselves to account. Yours is not the only normative, also, I know no indigenous people that are hushed in their joy, across race and continents.
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