Blog
My eyes are starting to see me | Luleka Mhlanzi
10 days ago
Who is your first audience when you write a poem? Do you hope that your work will be noticed and enjoyed by strangers or are you, first and foremost, talking to yourself?
On 25 November, South Africans will be observing the start of 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children. We often think of violence in terms of what others do to the most vulnerable members of society, but it is worth remembering that violence can start much closer to home – in the ways we have learned to look at ourselves.
Luleka Mhlanzi is a multi-award-winning performance poet, actress and youth programme facilitator. Her debut anthology, Confiscated Identity, which she self-published in 2021, has already gone into its second print. She has read and performed her inspirational poems on many national and international stages and founded an online platform, LMArts NPC, on which aspiring poets and artists can explore themselves through the arts and literature.
In spite of her prominent public profile, her poems chronicle an intensely personal journey. They record a young woman’s coming of age as she transcends the standards of beauty and conduct set by others.
Mhlanzi explains, “I wanted to express the voice of the voiceless, and I hope the poems come from that voice, sometimes cracked but still there.”
Some of the collection’s most moving poems chronicle her difficult, but ultimately affirming, conversations with the person she sees when she looks in the mirror. In one of these, ‘Beauty Under Siege’, she addresses a young woman beset by many doubts:
“I have heard your conversations with them.
They have planted in you the belief
That you are not enough
And that you have not collected enough debris to help
Make yourself perfect.”
Mhlanzi hopes that Confiscated Identity will contribute to the work of activism required to bring violence against women and girls to an end.
“My book would like to see women and young girls that are confident and can pursue their highest potential in a functional society. I hope it will create a ripple effect in the lives of girls and women in South Africa and beyond.”
Recently she started Beauty Revised, an online platform on which women can explore their own responses to the beauty standards society sets for them.
“I was bullied while growing up for my dark skin colour, for not meeting certain beauty standards. So I created Beauty Revised, first as a platform for informal conversation. This year I took it online for Tik Tok livestream sessions. Women come forward to share their lived experiences. It made me see how much young girls and women need to be affirmed and taught to appreciate themselves.”
This ability of looking at oneself in new ways, and unlearning to look in old, hard ways, is crystallised in one of the collection’s most beautiful lines, which gives the anthology’s second section its title: ‘My Eyes Are Starting To See Me’.
“This is most important, I think, the way you see yourself! In the chaotic world that we have built, you need to love yourself gracefully. Holding a beautiful image of yourself is all the softness and guard one needs. It is imperative to look within, never lie to oneself but embrace one’s uniqueness.”
In the next few days, write a poem in which you address a younger version of yourself. You could provide inspiration and encouragement or offer advice.
The annual AVBOB Poetry Competition closes at 23:59 on 30 November 2024. Visit www.avbobpoetry.co.za today and enter your best words before it is too late.
On 25 November, South Africans will be observing the start of 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children. We often think of violence in terms of what others do to the most vulnerable members of society, but it is worth remembering that violence can start much closer to home – in the ways we have learned to look at ourselves.
Luleka Mhlanzi is a multi-award-winning performance poet, actress and youth programme facilitator. Her debut anthology, Confiscated Identity, which she self-published in 2021, has already gone into its second print. She has read and performed her inspirational poems on many national and international stages and founded an online platform, LMArts NPC, on which aspiring poets and artists can explore themselves through the arts and literature.
In spite of her prominent public profile, her poems chronicle an intensely personal journey. They record a young woman’s coming of age as she transcends the standards of beauty and conduct set by others.
Mhlanzi explains, “I wanted to express the voice of the voiceless, and I hope the poems come from that voice, sometimes cracked but still there.”
Some of the collection’s most moving poems chronicle her difficult, but ultimately affirming, conversations with the person she sees when she looks in the mirror. In one of these, ‘Beauty Under Siege’, she addresses a young woman beset by many doubts:
“I have heard your conversations with them.
They have planted in you the belief
That you are not enough
And that you have not collected enough debris to help
Make yourself perfect.”
Mhlanzi hopes that Confiscated Identity will contribute to the work of activism required to bring violence against women and girls to an end.
“My book would like to see women and young girls that are confident and can pursue their highest potential in a functional society. I hope it will create a ripple effect in the lives of girls and women in South Africa and beyond.”
Recently she started Beauty Revised, an online platform on which women can explore their own responses to the beauty standards society sets for them.
“I was bullied while growing up for my dark skin colour, for not meeting certain beauty standards. So I created Beauty Revised, first as a platform for informal conversation. This year I took it online for Tik Tok livestream sessions. Women come forward to share their lived experiences. It made me see how much young girls and women need to be affirmed and taught to appreciate themselves.”
This ability of looking at oneself in new ways, and unlearning to look in old, hard ways, is crystallised in one of the collection’s most beautiful lines, which gives the anthology’s second section its title: ‘My Eyes Are Starting To See Me’.
“This is most important, I think, the way you see yourself! In the chaotic world that we have built, you need to love yourself gracefully. Holding a beautiful image of yourself is all the softness and guard one needs. It is imperative to look within, never lie to oneself but embrace one’s uniqueness.”
In the next few days, write a poem in which you address a younger version of yourself. You could provide inspiration and encouragement or offer advice.
The annual AVBOB Poetry Competition closes at 23:59 on 30 November 2024. Visit www.avbobpoetry.co.za today and enter your best words before it is too late.
