A letter to my younger self: Reflecting on African queer activism for International Youth Day
Dear Dumi, I write to you as a testament to endurance and resilience. I know you are reeling with confusion and grief with little understanding of what happened to you during adolescence.
Living in a world that defines you as a victim with much “need” and little to dream for, because who is allowed to dream when criminalized and denied consent to their bodily autonomy and dignity?
You are one of many whose resilience will be celebrated with little regard of what truly defines you because you have “survived.” Survived socioeconomic complexity, sexual assault, stigma and the silence that comes with normalized violence.
Although the journey through your teenage years may be lonely, you are not alone. Activists that came before you endured to bridge science and community, governance and humanity.
