7/20/2023 0 Comments Color me yellow![]() Luckily, because the universe hears and responds to our wishes, I was gifted this book. The title and the cover enticed me and I put it on my TBR list towards the end of last. I loved how the author does not seek to evoke sympathy in her narration, she simply tells it like it is.Ĭolour Me Yellow. Colour Me Yellow is Thuli’s third baby, the other two books are in isiSwati titled SibongoSabo and Imbali yemaNgcamane. ![]() Excellent presentation, by one who is at one with words and writing. Talented and multi award winning author, poet, journalist, television producer and owner of media production house TNM, has given us a brilliant book that meets all the criteria of a great memoir and more. The tribalism hit home when Thuli's boyfriend and father of her son was called “a Zulu dog”. We hear of illicit inter racial relationships during apartheid SA. ![]() Christian religious bigotry was also brought to the fore. Once again it is demonstrated how women are wont to be cheerleaders of patriarchy at the expense of children and other women, for the benefit of men. The themes that remained with me are of patriarchy, family, identity, race, colourism, poverty, pregnancy, tribalism, migration, politics, and religious beliefs. Ironically, only one family member, maternal grandpa, could kiss it better.Īlso a story of resilience, focus and hope, which has become part of therapy and healing to many who have experienced physical, emotional and psychological seclusion, especially as children. Instead, she finds solace in outsiders, neighbours, a boyfriend’s mother, a Zimbabwean lady who sells wares in town, her nanny, her first employer, pastors and sangomas. Throughout the book, young, teenage, and adult Thuli attempts to rationalise, comprehend, manage and to find out the real reasons why, while simultaneously grappling with issues of identity and the zest to belong. Growing up Thuli was faced with inexplicable, blatant resentment, ill treatment and unfairness from her family, including her biological mom. The most troubling fact being that, contrary to popular belief, blood is not always thicker than water. Also that, what does not kill us makes us stronger. The message I got from the book is that, how we are conceived, treated, especially in our formative years is beyond our control, and it is not not our fault, that it either makes or breaks us. That it is real lived experiences makes it even worse. The gloomy moments outweighed the happy ones. – Mmatshilo MotseiĪ meditation on a South African childhood, and a chronicle of a family whose fault lines were fractured because of apartheid. Whilst exposing and exploding the impact of family secrets on people’s sense of identity and well-being, it is also a celebration of one woman’s determination to live her life to the fullest. In the process, she uncovers unsettling family secrets that irrevocably change all their lives. Getting no answers, Thuli embarks on years of searching for the truth. She confronts her mother about her real father and real surname. Years later, Thuli is still haunted by her childhood experiences. Fearing that she had a terrible disease, she withdrew into herself. Known as "Yellow”, she was bullied at home and at school. She was seven years old when she realised that no one called her by name. Thuli Nhlapo grew up constantly hearing these words from her mother.
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