Behind The Torch – – The Marantu Dispatch
Belonging is not what we were taught it was.
We were taught that belonging means being accepted.
Being understood.
Being allowed to stay.
So we learned to soften ourselves.
To translate our truths.
To remain legible to rooms that could only hold us
as long as we did not change too much.
That was not belonging.
It was negotiation.
True belonging does not ask you to remain familiar.
It does not require agreement.
It does not demand proof of loyalty.
It recognizes direction.
Belonging, reimagined, is not about standing together.
It is about walking together — honestly — for as long as the path aligns.
Those who belong with you now
do not need you to explain who you are becoming.
They do not need reassurance.
They do not need you to perform coherence.
They recognize you because they are facing
the same horizon.
This kind of belonging is rare
because it cannot be forced.
It emerges after identity loosens.
After the need to be included dissolves.
After you are willing to walk alone
rather than walk falsely.
At first, this feels like loss.
Then something unexpected happens.
You notice fewer conversations —
but deeper ones.
Less affirmation —
but more truth.
More silence —
and less exhaustion.
You realize you are no longer being gathered.
You are being met.
Belonging, reimagined, does not promise permanence.
Paths diverge.
Seasons shift.
Alignment changes.
And when it does, there is no betrayal.
Only gratitude
for the distance you walked truthfully together.
This is how communities remain alive
without becoming cages.
This is how movements evolve
without consuming their people.
This is how Marantu breathes.
Not as a place you join.
Not as an identity you adopt.
But as a current you recognize
when you find yourself
walking honestly
in the same direction as another.
For now.
—Uzanenkosi
Torchbearer, Marantu ☉☽
Year 0 | Marimba 09 | Week 2