Am I Kalanga? or am I Ndebele?

Who am I?

Although this question is boarder than we think. tonight something came to me as I was watching a recent host on Ndebelesconnect' snapchat. he was at a meeting to discuss the dismissal of the recent discovery of the Ndebele nation, otherwise known as Mthwakazi, king. for those unfamiliar with this name - youre not alone, I too, was absolutely oblivious to this name and who it stood for and its members.

Lets do a quick history lesson. The Ndebele people of modern day Zimbabwe came from South Africa, lead by the none other Mzilikazi a close relative of Shaka Zulu who was the last official King of Southern Africa region of Kwa-Zulu  before the colonisation of the British. Mzilikazi fled South Africa and headed north into what is now known as Zimbabwe. On his way he would kill anyone who got in his way - a trait learnt from Shaka - and take the women north with him. Of course not doing this alone but with a small handful of people from the tribe of the Ndebele - side note - there are loads and loads of tribes in Africa let alone South Africa. South Africa, with 13 official languages along with their tribes, you can see what I mean. To name a few there are the Zulus, the Tswana, the Venda, the Tsonga, the Ndebele (still ;) going strong) and many many more. - back to the main deal - he settled in Zimbabwe and I believe he owned quite a large bit if it. With both the Midlands and Matabeleland being vastly bigger than Mashonaland. However due to the whites (the British) after he died his son, Lobengula, made a dodgy deal which signed away his rights to the land otherwise now known as Matabeleland and the Midlands. As it stands now the Matabeleland, the Midlands, Mashonaland and Manicaland were combined into one country now known as Zimbabwe.

 

 

The country gets its name from the Shona word 'Dzimba-dza-mabwe' meaning 'house large house of stone after the great ruins of what is suspected to be a kingdom in which a king lived. Offering Zimbabwe as a country full of different cultures and tribes, which is news to some, who have always believed that Zimbabwe only has two tribes, the Shona and the Ndebele, when in actuality it has more than five. However their thinking isn't wrong as the Shona and the Ndebele are quite a large majority of the country.

Other tribes include the Kalanga tribe, the Venda, the Shangaan, and the Tonga.

The tribe of the Kalanga, of which I was born into dominates most of Bulilima and parts of Francistown in Botswana, speaking the recognised language of tjiKalanga. It seems quite strange that the don't inhabit just one country but this is also because of that dodgy deal that Lobengula signed which divided the Kalanga's who where living together as one group into two different groups where some - a small minority - live in Zimbabwe and some live in Botswana. Which brings me back to my main question of who am I? Although my decent is mainly Kalanga and South Africa can I really claim to be a Ndebele?

My last name has become something of a puzzle to me. My last name is Ndlovu, a name seen as a Ndebele/Zulu. I speak isiNdebele. however my whole family name is Ndlovu-Habelengan. The Habelengan bit being aggressively Kalanga. My family speaks fluent tjiKalanga and even lives among Kalanga people in Bulilima. Manje my question is why? Why is there a Ndlovu infront of our non - negotiable and very much Kalanga Stemo. Could it have been the whites? Just trying to classify us as one? and why have I been claiming to be a tribe which I don't really belong to? This creates more questions than it does answers. Why is there not that much representation of the Kalanga's in Zimbabwe? What can I do to represent us?

Well I posed this question on the family group chat, and this is what I got from my Uncle (Babomndala): 

In conclusion, I can say throughout this journey of discovering who I am... and I still haven't finished... I can say that from my fathers side I am Kalanga but from my mothers side, which I haven't disclosed much on I am from South African decent - you could say I'm Ndebelefied by her. So I guess I'm both!!
 Thank You.

Nakita Johnson : My Inspiration

         

I know what you're thinking.... WHO IS THIS BEAUTIFUL GIRL? WHERE IS SHE FROM? AND HOW DOES HER CONTOUR AND HIGHLIGHT LOOK SO STUNNING?

For the amount of time this girl has been on Youtube, I have grown to not only love her but to look up to her as a sister. Nakita Johnson has undoubtedly inspired many other young girls (including myself) across the world. I first came across her, I believe on Instagram as I had just come back from South Africa and was looking for fitness inspiration to get my body looking right. Time went by and I found myself falling in love with the fact that she seemed so similar to me and so real. Nakita has such a gentle spirit and is so loving towards her supporters. What inspires me most is that she never changes, she is a true representation of herself, and doesn't allow outside forces to disrupt her happiness and peace. Which I believe is something that this generation needs, with all this 'frontin' about money and possessions which is so evident in this generation, Nakita's personality and YouTube channel sheds light what is really important in life - family and the relationships we have with each other.




 Nakita also inspires us through her fitness which seriously motivates me (and I'm sure many other young girls) to believe that I can work on myself and feel good about my own body. Along with Mr Terroll Lewis, Nakita exudes positive energy, by encouraging not only each other but their viewers to keep a positive mindset. As I recall in one of my favourite vlogs they talk about speaking things into existence and creating the life you want to live through the power of your words (this is also in biblical scripture) - by the way subscribe to Nakita and Terroll's channel!

 

Nakita, along with promoting self love (which I also think is quite important in today's society) keeps her word, especially to her supporters. Hosting #BEATBYNAKITA empowered many of her current supports to find strength in their struggle and unarguably even those who didn't win can say just writing out what they have been through has helped them and others connect over the internet - reassuring them that they are not alone.





There's so much to love and appreciate about Nakita, for one thing she never claims to be perfect and that's something we can all relate to, I could list many other ways she has helped me and her other subbie's by just being herself but I think you should head over to her Youtube channel.

oh hey heres a link (how convenient for you) :  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpyR2iOezcOMhlMVSVCiZpA

Walking

Then Jesus said, "Leave the children alone, and don't try to keep them from coming to Me, because the kingdom of heaven is made up of people like this."

But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."

But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

But Jesus said, "Allow the little children, and don't forbid them to come to me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like these."

Hello people,

This is my first post and I'm still getting used to this, but basically I started this blog to take you along with me on my adventures, both physical and mental adventures. I'll post a little bit about me later on but for now I wanted to say hello and welcomes to my page :) 

Naledi

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