Video
Rufaro Samanga
Apr. 17, 2019 09:37AM EST

These Videos of Black South Africans Graduating Will Give You Life

Black people unabashedly celebrating their graduations their own way? We're here for it.

It's currently graduation season in South Africa and social media is flooded with hundreds of posts of excited graduates finally getting their degrees and diplomas. Now, graduation is a pretty big deal for everyone but for Black South Africans especially, it matters that much more.

I remember my first graduation ceremony. My heels were uncomfortable, my earrings were weighing my earlobes down and I was sure my dress emphasized every cellulite bump that I had. But I was extremely excited. I was the first in my family to ever graduate from university and that moment was not just about me but my entire family and for my father, who'd passed away in my first year of university.

This is what the young White student sitting beside me did not understand. As Black parents ululated, danced, yelled out their clan names and praised the achievements of even the Black children who were not their own, all this young man could say to me in great annoyance was, "They're making so much noise."

As the 2016 student movement Fees Must Fall highlighted, Black South Africans face tremendous challenges when it comes to accessing tertiary education and largely because they're poor. When they do try and access funding, they're apparently not poor enough. In a country where the majority is still living in dehumanizing and impoverished circumstances, graduating at an institution that historically, wasn't meant to ever welcome you, is a fucking achievement.

And yet, some of these institutions bar Black graduates and their families, especially, from celebrating the achievement in the ways that Black people know how to celebrate. Instead, they are continuously reminded in the weeks before the graduation ceremony of the many ways they need to tone down their Blackness and act in a manner that is filled with the "utmost decorum".

The gag is, you don't get to tell Africans at African institutions how not to celebrate. If they don't dance and sing at Harvard or Oxford, that's fine, but we sure as hell do that shit here.

Theses videos showing Black South Africans doing the absolute most as they graduate will give you life. And if they don't and instead you're pissed that the "dignity" of the proceedings has somehow been tarnished, I can assure you, the problem is you.













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Photo Credit: Getty Images

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An estimated 1.4 million children have been hit by schools closing in the Tigray region of Ethiopia amid conflict and crisis. Here's how that's impacting Ethiopia's children.

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Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray is in the midst of a war that has impacted millions of lives and affected neighboring regions, Amhara and Afar. The war — which has forced citizens to flee, has tipped the region into famine, and has barricaded humanitarian aid from reaching the most vulnerable — has now been going on for about 11 months.

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Photo: Getty

Here's What You Need To Know About The Political Unrest In Sudan

Thousands have been protesting the Sudanese government over the weekend, supporting the military's plans for a coup.

Sudan's transitional government is in turmoil as thousands of citizens conducted a sit-in protest against them, over the weekend. A group of Sudanese citizens have called on the military to disestablish the nation's current government, as the country struggles with the greatest crisis they've seen since the end of former dictator Omar al-Bashir's controversial ruling, two years ago. The weekend's pro-military protests come as anti-military protestors took to the streets earlier this month to fight for civilian-ruled laws.

Military-aligned demonstrators assembled outside of the famously off-limits entrance of the Presidential Palace located in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum on Monday. Gatherers set up tents, blocking off access to two main intersections, cutting off access to the capital for those inside. Police attempted to wave off crowds with teargas, with Khartoum state officials saying they had, "repelled an attempted assault on the seat of government," in a statement issued Monday.

The assembly was called for by a coalition of rebel groups and political parties that support Sudan's military, accusing the civilian political parties of mismanagement and monopolizing power under their ruling. Demonstrations began on Saturday, but Sunday's gathering saw a lower attendance. According to Reuters, by Monday afternoon, thousands, between 2,000 - 3,000, had returned to voice their concerns. 52-year-old tribal elder Tahar Fadl al-Mawla spoke at the helm of the sit-in outside of the Presidential palace saying, "The civilian government has failed. We want a government of soldiers to protect the transition." Alongside a 65-year-old Ahman Jumaa who claimed to have traveled more than 900 kilometers (570 miles) from Southern region Nyala to show his support.

Protesters are demanding the appointment of a new cabinet that is "more representative of the people who participated in the December 2019 revolution that eventually led to the ousting of former president Omar al-Bashir", Al Jazeera reported from Sudan. Protesters headed towards the Presidential Palace, where an emergency cabinet meeting was being held when they were met by police forces.

Pro-civilian political parties have plans for their own demonstration on Thursday, the anniversary of the 1964 revolution that overthrew Sudan's first military regime under Ibrahim Abboud and brought in a period of democracy that the country still struggles to uphold.


Sudanese Twitter users shared their thoughts online, with many drawing similarities between the current unrest and other political crises the nation has faced.

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