What has changed?

What do you tell a ten-year-old girl?

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In “Nothing’s Changed”, Tatamkhulu Afrika talks about the rampant apartheid system in Cape Town and explores racism.? Has anything changed?

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On the 8th March 2024, I stood amidst and in the mix of a group of about 80 people and led a round-table discussion on one this year’s IWD topics – “Shifting to a green economy and care society” under the umbrella of ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’.? I witnessed a group of young people from across two primary schools and two secondary schools belt out their unwavering an uncompromising support and conviction for a care society that prioritises well-being, gender equality and social justice.?

There were 10-year-old girls in the room speaking passionately about other female role models, there were other 11-, 12-, 13- and 14-year-old girls and boys who were thinking of their mothers, Aunties, sisters, friends and articulating the fairness and respect they deserve.?

What was clear to me is that this and the next the future generation want to live without restriction and want to do good and the trustees of the future of our planet and society.

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Have you got a 10-year-old daughter? Imagine someone saying that they want to shoot her?

The assault, violence and harm against women and girls must end today.

And for those that be and caught up in the trappings of power and imprisoned minds be freed and unrestricted, for unrestricted is about doing what is right and in the interest and investment of others to co-habitat and positively contribute to global outcomes entrenched in human rights and the sustainable development goals.

How is it that we cannot eradicate the wrongness of yesteryear that continues to poison, intimidate, and restrict many?

As I stood before a group of young people, their voices rang out with a passion and conviction that stirred my soul. Among them was a 10-year-old girl, a beacon of hope and a symbol of the future we must build. She spoke of female role models, of fairness and respect, of a world where girls can be free and live in a safe world.

And yet, we live in a society that still threatens to imprison her mind and body, to harm her and others like her. How can we look into her eyes and tell her that we want to shoot her, to perpetuate the violence and assault that women and girls have endured for too long?

As Professor Steve Peters writes in ‘The Chimp Paradox’, this girl will traverse her psychological universe and her rays will beam paralleling the Sun’s.? She will be free of slavery as she will not make herself a prisoner of her own mind and lead through a bold and brave example.?

“Still I rise” by Maya Angelou will become the backdrop in her life as she continues go grow in awareness, freedom and finding the right scene and village.

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"From good people you’ll learn good, but if you mingle with the bad you’ll destroy such soul as you had” – Musonius Rufus (quoting Theognis of Megara, Lectures, 11.53.21-22, The Daily Stoic Holiday R & Hanselman S)

It is time to eradicate the wrongness of the past and present, to break free from the trappings of power that poison, intimidate and threaten.

How do we ensure the survivor and safety of us - the planets?

My #PetalTalks is about your voice, safety, freedom, growth, authenticity, genuine connection and your ultimate pursuit of deeper understanding and what your life means to you and others.

I am one of those girls on a journey.