The Network in the Arena

With great privilege comes great responsibility. To whom much is given, much is and must be expected. We do not live in silos, our realities lived and experienced, are a consequence of the environment, people, and communal context we find ourselves in. There are material, social, economic, blood, spiritual, or other contexts, that affect the measure of our collective experience, but the fundamental is that we are human, human beings, actively and inactively affected by the world around us.

If there is any present reality to reaffirm this, 2023 is that. Whether you were stuck in traffic, hit by a pothole, met by price hikes at your local store, the increase of your local taxi fare, or if you experienced water outages or blackouts, crime to self or that lady or guy on the street, remember the terrible service in the clinic you visited or the nonchalant nature of the teller who served you at that local store. Paired with the frustrations of your work, your inability to work, the demands of your family, spouse, or children, your mental health, your significant wins, and the loss of life, grief, and the birthing of new life and new beginnings. All of these realities I am confident we all have one or another encountered in this year, and yet here we are in December not only breathing but grateful for the privilege of life itself but equally confronted by the responsibility it comes with. What does it mean to find yourself in nuanced realities of the country, what opportunity does it present you with to not only add language but emotion, voice and ultimately action to the glaring reality of what it means to be South African and or live in South Africa. A country filled with great potential and yet seemingly drawn before our eyes into devastating regressive realities that demand all of our attention. I digress…

This year, have seen great milestones, wins, and equally so, great and devastating losses, regression, and moments in the year that have caused us to pause, ask, ponder, and reflect on our generational mission and individual call, cause, and commitment to it. The big ask [generational mission] is informed by personal experience, the big ask [generational mission], can only be sustained well and long enough if one fully immerses oneself in small acts of service, commitment, discipline, and reflection, how was 2023 is not a matter of what or who happened to you, but what and how you showed up as the year placed a bigger demand on you to direct it.

This was the year that called on us as a network to rise to the occasion. We spent very little time in the conversation about the status quo, for us, it was not a reality we read about or heard of, it was fully embedded in us. The only response was for us to ask and do. We focused the year on three fundamental areas, creating the sustainability of the network through the ACD-In community training, immersing ourselves in our communities through the #WeAreVoting and #ThisFreedom campaign, and lastly, we did not shy away from disrupting the narrative where young people are concerned with the active citizen awards, whose voice do you want to see in parliament, the network imbizo as well as all the champion led efforts in the civic, policy, and gender activism space. We were not too fixated on the problem but creatively sought to be part of the solution. It was not who watched us from the sidelines that mattered but the work we did and rigorously focused on in the arena.

And like the words of Theodore Roosevelt, this year we became the network in the arena whose face was marred with sweat, dust, and tears. We knew and could tell of great victories, but we also knew of great losses and through it all, we dared, greatly. Our generational mission demands this of us. The only question we ask in 2024 will be, will you join us? Will you send yourself? It will be the year of the arena.