A POEM FOR NENE

Dear Harfielders – instead of writing a neuroscience article this month, I chose instead to write a poem called The Colour Purple – for Nene, a girl who lived locally – and to appeal to people to wear the colour purple in remembrance of her.  The Colour Purple is also a film based on a fictional book by Alice Walker, about a young black woman who was raped and abused by two men (her father and her arranged husband) in deep South America – the only thing that kept her going (in this fictional story) was the dream that one day she would be reunited with her sister in Africa. I think wearing the colour purple on our clothes can remind us of our dream that one day soon in South Africa, women can be free to move around a city like Cape Town, without fear of violence, abuse or harassment.  This poem, written by me, is to remember the beautiful UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana, who lived locally with us.