The Silent Prayer

In light of the various xenophobic attacks that have been happening around our country this past month, I was asked to write a piece and recite it at a silent protest we had at the University of Western Cape.
I don't normally share such but I found it fitting as this was a cause dear to my heart. It goes as follows:

Dear African Brothers & Sisters

Firstly lemme apologies for the...how do I put it,
Barbaric and inhuman way our fellow brothers and sisters have been treating you
YES brothers and sisters
Because we are FIRST AFRICANS before we are even South Africans.

See this hatred isn't directed at you,
So sorry for being the casualities in this war between ourselves

We have been taught to hate our skin cause
that very skin,that comes in different shades
will never amount to anything.
So when we see you break those stereotypes
in a country that is deemed "not your own"
We become jealous,
saying "THAT SHOULD BE ME"

So sorry for being causalities in this war between ourselves

As we stand here today
And realize that this is not a war between me and you
Let us remember that
we BLEED the SAME BLOOD,
WALK ON the SAME SOIL
simply cause we are AFRICANS before SOUTH AFRICANS
And we say NO TO XENOPHOBIA