Letladi Lekolwane is an AMI Media Competition shortlisted contributor from South Africa. Her piece We. Are. They! is her interpretation of "Why are we the ones we've been waiting for?"
Why are we the ones we’ve been waiting for?
We are the now solutions. The currents in the stormy seasons of life. The solutions lived through problems. The imaginative hopefuls that long for more beyond ourselves. We are the “one days” our parents spoke about. The tomorrow of today.
We are the lives lived from history hoped. The laughter from the cries experienced. We are the results of the work our parents put in. The rewards of the sleepless nights under oppression. We are the sweet incense from the labourers’ sweat. We are the long hot foamy baths from cold basins in the dark. The hot chocolate with marshmallow in the mug that came for the black tea in tin cups.
We are the freedom our elders fought for, the future they hoped for is now. Is us. Is we. We are the “we” we’ve been dreaming of, the tomorrow of our youth. The “dear 10 year old me” responses.
The fulfilled fears we had, the unknowns of yesterday known today. We are the sunrises from the many sunsets of those who died building a better today yesterday.
We are they who have come from them. They who paved the way for those who will come tomorrow. We are the first floors built from the foundations of those who started the construction years before. We are the beginning of tomorrow.
We are now. We are today. We are them that they waited for. Them that set the pace for tomorrow. We are the light of those who toiled in darkness, the flashlight for the vision of tomorrow.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Arise. The time is now. The day is today. The platform is us. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Blessed, ordained for a time such as this. Today. We. Are.They!
