I'm Johari. When I was little, people used to tease me by calling me Jo-Arid. Which, come to think of it, was pretty stupid. I'm now a 16-year-old teenager and member of Pur Azuré, a well-known singing and dancing group, but I've had a rather unusual life.
For a start, I lived in a town where there were only dark-skinned people. No Whites. My neighborhood was poor and children's education... wasn't a top priority. My father worked all the time. My mother was always watching soap operas on TV. I went to school, but no one in my class respected authority. The kids were the bosses!
I couldn't learn anything, but I was a curious person. I wanted to be able to read, write and understand the meaning of things. I had to learn on my own, spending hours in the school library. Illustrated children's books taught me to read. Tracing letters taught me to write. In the end, I was the only one in my class who respected my teacher and what he wanted us to learn. I also have a great passion for dancing and singing, and I practiced as often as I could.
Then came adolescence and it was no better. My former classmates as kids are almost all in street gangs. It's like a tradition to be in a gang, to steal, to do drugs, to prostitute themselves while lying about their age. It wasn't for me. I knew that. I'm better than this. My parents don't seem to care about my future, as long as I find a lover with lots of money. No way. I'm good at dancing and singing. I could have a career as an artist, but who would want me? In this city, where crime seems to be the king, I'm invisible.
Then one day, a miracle happened. The Pur Azuré singing and dancing group was looking for a new dancer with a good singing voice. The group came to our town for auditions. My parents were against it, as the group only has white singers and dancers, but I showed up anyway. I had quite a reaction to seeing a white person for the first time. Strangely enough, it didn't put me at a disadvantage and I passed the audition!
Finally, I'm a Pur Azuré, I am famous, I have plenty of money, but I'm very troubled. I learned months later from one of the dancers that I was only chosen to be part of the group because of the crap that is DEI and Wokism. Yes, I know what it is, and it's outrageous! I wasn't chosen for my talent or beauty. No, only for having "someone of color" as requested by the DEI! The lyrics of their songs are also becoming more and more Wokes. I'm not going to leave Pur Azuré, but I'm going to fight. Fighting DEI and Wokism. That's my new purpose.