‘Be My Date?’ Ten Years After, Will it matter?
Nine years
ago, several friends asked me what my photo was doing, as part of the marketing
for the programme, ‘Be My Date?’
I told them
that I had never heard of this programme and that they were surely mistaken. By
the fifteen or so person to approach me, my interest was piqued. In 2014, I was
busy running the Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation, attending to the wishes of
every poet on the continent, including their grandmother's, without a thought to other
activities. This year, we are focused on editing and publishing African poets.
I am sure
my friends thought that my photo was part of one of my special literary campaigns,
as they tried to no avail, to find the connection between me and this
programme.
My
instincts told me to let it go, that by the next year, it would not matter.
Against my better judgement, I sent a message on their Facebook page, to kindly
remove my photo, which I had not even seen yet. That was in 2014.
Nine years
after, the message still sits there, forlorn, unattended to, without a date
(pun intended).
On deciding
to travel to the TV station, the lady whom I was led to, uninterested
in my request to remove my photo, must have been reprimanded by her workmates,
who were in the room at the time, passing me furtive glances. Shortly after, my
friends reported that my photo had been removed.
It mattered
that my friends told me. That was nine years ago. And yes, to me, it still
matters.
One day
somebody borrowed a certain tiny car that I used to drive, and parked it in a
dingy part of town. Someone called to ask if I had sold it, because I had built
a profile that bore no resemblance to where the car was parked. That was over
ten years ago. And yes, it matters.
It matters if
people are able to associate you with something that you have willingly or
unwillingly worked towards.
They will
not always be there to stand up for you. Your life should be able to stand up
for itself. Even through the many times that we all stumble, our lives should
still be able to speak for themselves.
Whatever
life you have chosen, stand up and own it,
Blessings!
Bev
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