The B-Complex

Here we go again…the complexity of the complex embedded deeply in our skin colour, conditioning or maybe even our genetics. We constantly find ourselves as “Black people” at loggerheads over the contrast between our heritage and our behaviour/mentality in these present times. Some of us are pro black, some are beyond racial confinements, some are radicals and some choose to sit in the middle of the line and gladly tip to any side of the scale when it suits them. The aim of this article is not to say who is right or who is wrong but to hopefully encourage a discussion and not a debate if it is at all necessary.

I walked into the office today and switched on my computer, just like many I logged on to quickly scan through what is relevant or interesting on these facebook pages and that is when I stumbled upon an advert from a brand that I have over the past few months grew fond of, mainly because of the way they have modernised their heritage. I clicked on the advert to check out their new website and as usual I was taken aback by their execution and how well they communicate their brand. I quickly called my colleague to come check out the designs and while she was looking I said “You see how dope it is, how well they hook up their heritage? Why can’t we do that with our brands?” she went into a brief silence and started telling me how I always compare black people to white people, my response was simple – “I only said that with regards to design and heritage, why can’t we execute our brands to those standards?” but I guess it came out wrong…or maybe it came out as it was intended but that ultimately put me in an uncle Ruckus box. I listened attentively and every time I had the opportunity to respond to her views I would reply by saying “Well I hear you and all but that is not what I intended for my statement to mean”. She went on to say how it’s a psychological thing, how I seem to compare everything that is black to white or how I seem to distance myself from black people because I somehow prefer white people more. This lead me to think and think and think about whether she is right or totally getting me confused, whether I was in denial or not. Am I poking wounds or do I compare everything to everything regardless of race, nature or shape? And that maybe people seem to highlight certain things that open a massive vault of information that they have collected over time and really dislike.

Either way this event lead to this article that you are currently reading and I believe it goes beyond our office walls, streets, regions, countries and continents. It is a disease that we as black people suffer from, whether we judge other black people for being too black or not so black it is a disease that eats the very core of our existence… we judge, compare, or distance ourselves and that is a fact of our current nature. I have heard people comparing accents, people judging you by class or distancing themselves from where they are from (which is different from distancing yourself from who you are) and maybe I have become a perpetrator or maybe a victim of a disease that runs freely through our blood.

I feel as if I’m a parent who wants their children to grow and be the best at what they do and I guess sometimes as a parent you seem to find yourself in an unfair state of comparison, comparing your child to others and imposing your expectations on them, It is not right to compare and that folks is what I took from this subject/event/occurrence. Black, white or green we shouldn’t compare but when we have ambition in whichever industry or trade it is good to set yourself benchmarks and aspirations regardless of shape, colour or form. Let us cure ourselves from The B complex.

Written by Lethabo Ngakane 

Live, love, create.