I was shopping around for a new pair of sneakers when Mervyn, my boyfriend, mentioned that I should really check out the brand Converse. Now as a little introduction to this post, I’d like to take you back to memory lane to your first experience with a new pair of sneakers…

I remember the very first pair of sneakers that I bought and owned when I was still working at Edgars as a Sales Assistant to make some pocket money while still in high school. I worked in what was then called the Young Business department although I should add here that all the clothing showcased on the floor were mostly happening labels like Levi’s, Sissyboy, Billabong and Roxy; as opposed to what was is conjured up by the section’s name. Anyway I purchased a black and grey pair of Sketchers with the trendy light reflection strips down the sides, and they were the first range of “no-lace” sneakers. They were the best shoes and so comfortable even when I went hiking in them.

Alas I’ve come a long way since then and after finally testing a pair of Converse yesterday, I can safely say this shoe is the bomb! I’ve since been called “GhettoGirl” because apparently Converse All Stars is the preferred sneaker for youth in our South African ‘ghettoes’ i.e. Chatsworth, Soweto, Benoni, Eldorado Park if your imagination allows the borrowed analogy.

View the rest of my Converse pics on Flickr.

So here I’m thinking of how to up my street cred with these fly sneakers on, and one thing comes to mind, a subject that I like to communicate about because it’s so deeply part of who I am…Conversation through social change!

I have a milestone to celebrate in my own right and considering that it’s Youth Day on Saturday here in South Africa, what a special way to commemorate the Soweto Student Uprising; a day that touched the lives of world on June 16^th, 1976. I have found a way to transverse the racial boundaries that have bound us to our neat little boxes through a pair of shoes above all things, but it’s true.

Converse as a brand and what it means to every sole wearing them is a means of breaking that barrier between black and white because by its very connotation, Converse All Stars has helped blur the prejudices of the past. How, you may ask? Well the fact that so many youth identify with a brand that has helped them socialise in a certain way that is a means of identifying with something that doesn’t have anything to do with colour, is a real success in social transformation.

If you interested to see how All Stars has taken off in SA, please check out Student Village. They actually have a social networking section dedicated to fans of the Converse.