May Dandy Lion Youth of the Month is Rayyah Sempala. She grew up in Uganda, a country where the President has been in power since 1986. It was and still is an environment heavily impacted by a activism. Growing up, Rayyah saw activists capture public attention with some remarkable actions. Actions that many in the western culture could never relate to. She saw the emerging activism driven more by dedication to specific causes and not necessarily aligned with what the government desired or prioritized.
As a little girl watching leaders stand in crowds and advocate for what they believed in, Rayyah started to understand how important it was and is to fight for what you believe. She saw leaders lose some battles and win some. It was clear that a person could not stand up for everything dear to their heart. Perhaps at a young age, Rayyah subconsciously might have wondered why they were picking and choosing some causes and not others.
Rayyah was driven and wanted to represent and work on all causes that she identified as being important. With time, she realized that she could not let all the world tragedies into her heart. It would be exhausting, and if she did, it would drown her.
She now knows that the key is to focus on a few of the social justice problems. And make them count.
She looks for opportunities to volunteer on projects. Issues that matter to her include Women issues, LGBTQ2S+ and Human Rights to mention, a few.
Read the full blog: https://empoweredme.ca/2021/05/10/still-processing-my-life-social-justice-and-activism-rayyah-sempala-episode-5/
Connect with Rayyah:
Email: rayyahsempala@gmail.com
Follow her on Instagram: rayyah_amber_@instagram
Link with her on: LinkedIn Rayyah Sempala
Watch her on on Diversity TV: Diversitypluss.ca
