Let's Get Straight To It.

(Plaque at Apartheid Museum--Johannesburg, South Africa) 

Why does one person get to grow up one way, and another, a completely different way? This has long been a question I have pondered. Whether it’s the issue of sex trafficking; why does a girl in my own country end up a slave, while I live a free life? My trip to South Africa caused me to face that same question once again, why are some privileged while others, live in utter poverty?

Anyone who knows me knows that I hate poverty with a passion on every scale, and it’s long been something I have put physical as well as thoughtful action behind. Obviously, it’s a big issue, one that must be tackled little by little. Alas, one that must be tackled.

This blog, Dochas, is about merging the two worlds of social justice and fashion, and so I will always bring it back to that merging of worlds; in order to make a difference in some form or fashion.

My time spent in South Africa was a lot of fun, and a little bit of learning the way of the culture. Whenever I travel, I take a few days to observe A LOT—there is something in me that has to understand a culture to some extent before I am able to really thrive in it, in any manner. I don’t think two weeks is ample time to really KNOW a culture—it takes a while. Therefore, I don’t claim to be an expert on the culture of South Africa by any means, but I do think you can grasp a bit of culture on a visit.

South Africa has drastic poverty, as well as very wealthy. The U.S. obviously has its poor, middle class, and wealthy classes; but the poverty of the U.S. is nothing compared to that of South Africa. (FYI, the poverty issue in the U.S. is still very important, and must be approached with love as well!) I was thrown into a world of two very distinct, opposite worlds. The Social Justice button on the inside of me was constantly going off as I observed the sights around me.

This is where you, the reader, come in. I have always believed the issues surrounding Social Justice should be a conversation, because I believe we all have ideas and thoughts that are brilliant, and when combined can truly change the way we do life in 2012 and beyond.  I would love to hear your thoughts on the issue, from a political or personal level.

There is greatness in the squatter camps of South Africa. There is creativity, talent, life, and love. It’s all waiting for someone who was born into a different way of life to come uncover, dust it off, and believe in it.

I was recently asked in an interview, “Why do you care so much about Social Justice?” My response, a fiery one too, was this, “why wouldn’t I? This is an issue of other humans like me suffering, why would I not use what I have been given in my life to help them and see them thrive?” It’s as simple as that.

I encourage you to find some way to use what you’ve been given to help someone else discover their potential. We are all humans, we are all giving one life, and we will all have to testify to it one day. Why not change the way we’ve come to do things? Instead of hoarding and wading in privilege, let’s believe in someone and see them thrive where they are.

Thanks for reading—I surely appreciate it.

And, please, let this be a conversation—I would love to hear your thoughts on the issue of poverty on a global, as well as local scale.

Peace. Love. Joy.