Dodos are extinct, but a light perfume of their spirit lingers…
A legacy left behind for the inhabitants of this planet.
By the magic of technology, Harry Yeff has given a voice to the sacred spirit of lost souls.
And what a voice.
A female voice, with that singing Mauritian accent that gives her English its musicality and depth.
Although the message was impossible to ignore, I found myself wondering:
Would I have been moved just as deeply if her voice had sounded different?
What if she had spoken with a British accent?
Would I have still listened, with the same attention, without that sound of authenticity?
This is why representation matters in technology.
Mimicking an accent is only the tip of the iceberg, but it’s a start.
It opens the way for conversations to take unfamiliar paths.
Paths that don’t center Western comfort or downplay historical responsibility.
They simply exist, in their universal truth and honesty.
A few months ago, my sister and friend Liza Brenda Sekaggya made me realize something.
I don’t code-switch anymore.
For those unfamiliar, code-switching is when we, minorities, strip away our cultural identity to blend into the mainstream, especially around non-melanated people.
It wasn’t intentional, but I can trace the end of my code-switching to the start of my journey with Bafing Projects.
My authentic self didn’t need adjusting.
So I accepted that I would not be for the lazy.
If my accent is hard to hear, listen harder.
I’m already speaking your language, that’s half the work.
You can do the rest.
Investing in Africa should follow the same rule.
We will not strip our ambition of what makes it us, just to make it more palatable.
Instead, we’ll show you the value rooted in service, community, and the preservation of nature.
If you’re not ready to listen,
You’re not our people.
And that’s okay.
