Shekinah Speaks Up About How It Felt To Be Raised By A White Family

Singer and Songwriter Shekinah Donnell has expressed in an interview with ZAlebs how it felt to be raised by a white family and the racism she has experienced. Shekinah revealed that she was abandoned at birth and a white family which never treated her any less but with great love and comfort raised her.

“I had so much love at home, the love that I have experienced is unreal, it’s organic, it’s natural. It’s the reason why I love everybody. When leaving home, I was always so charged up with that love and respect that whenever I was disrespected for not speaking isiZulu or not having a good weave or not knowing what to do with my hair because my parents are white and not doing phondo’s on my hair before I sleep. That used to bother me and I got upset but then I quickly moved on and by the time I was in grade 11 I had done Idols and then everybody wanted to be my friend,” she said.

The Suited singer went on to say how being an adult and being around black people who were black conscious had her formulate an opinion of her own about the whole racial issue. “The only time I started to experience racism was last year when I began paying my own bills and getting my own apartment, that’s when I was exposed to a whole lot of things that I wish I wasn’t exposed to. When I came to Joburg I was always around black people who were very Black Conscious and I wasn’t. I just didn’t understand why you’d hate white people because I love my white family, but then I would be around white people that were like ‘You’re very cool because you’re not like that.’ So I was exposed to those two worlds and I just didn’t understand it but my eyes were opened, and I got some education and I’ve formulated my own opinion about it.”

The singer also went to say that, she learnt a lot from the whole experience and that she will teach her kids one day that before race, comes humanity.

Shekinah And her family In Durban