She has spent nearly five decades in Mitchell's Plain not just living there, but building something inside it. Dr Alicia English is a journalist, editor, children's book author, and international award-winning social entrepreneur with 28 years of experience in publishing. She holds a professional doctorate in business administration and an MBA from the Institute of Social Entrepreneurship in Switzerland. But ask her who she is, and the answer she gives first is simpler: a mother, a community member, and a storyteller.
We recently sat down with Dr English to talk about community journalism, the responsibility that comes with telling people's stories, AI in the newsroom, and what she would say to a young girl in Mitchell's Plain who wants to change the world.
For Dr English, community work is not a professional commitment it is a personal one. She lost her husband to COVID-19 in 2021 and has since been raising three sons in the same neighbourhood where she grew up. That reality shapes everything she does.
"I'm involved in a community that I grew up in, but I'm also being able to create something that my children can be proud of," she says. "They can be proud of their mom, but they can also be proud of living in Mitchell's Plain."
With Mitchell's Plain turning 50 this year, that sense of legacy weighs on her. "What's the next 50 years of Mitchell's Plain going to look like? Hopefully my children would spend quite a number of years still here and what is that Mitchell's Plain going to look like for them?"
Dr English launched her journalism career in 1998, choosing community newspapers over commercial media a deliberate choice she does not regret. When asked why, she does not hesitate.
"People invite us into their homes and into their hearts. They trust us with their stories, their experiences, their memories the successes, but also the failures and the challenges."
She is open about the tension between community journalism and the clickbait-driven culture of digital media. "Beyond that headline, it is actually somebody's life, somebody's experience. That is something we cannot take lightly. It's a trust relationship and we need to treasure it for what it is."
Over her career she has edited across wildly different publications, a petroleum company's publication for pump attendants, The Big Issue magazine sold by street vendors and in each case the lesson was the same: "It's not about you. You have to understand who your audience is and what is important to them. Once you do that, you can communicate and connect in a way that they will continue to trust you."
Dr English is pragmatic about artificial intelligence neither dismissive nor uncritical. "AI is here. It's not going anywhere. We can decide to use it as a tool effectively, or we can be like an ostrich and put our heads in the sand."
But she insists on the journalist's responsibility to remain in control. She uses AI as a starting point for her own ideas, not a replacement for them and she is specific about how: "Put your ideas in, specify your tone, give context. And always, always ask AI to provide sources. Click on those links. Follow them. Verify where the information is drawn from."
She raises a pointed example: ask AI to write about Mitchell's Plain, and it will likely surface only the community's struggles. "It tends to forget about all the greatness that also comes from the community." That gap between algorithm and lived truth is exactly why human editorial judgement still matters.
"We as practitioners have got to ensure that we double-check our facts because you could end up destroying lives. You are not the tool or the fool being used by AI. You are the one who's in control."
After losing her husband during the pandemic, Dr English left her editorial position and started her own publishing company this time focused entirely on children's books. What followed was the clearest expression yet of her philosophy of social entrepreneurship: identifying a problem and engineering a solution.
The numbers are stark.
Around 81% of Grade 4 learners in South Africa struggle to read with understanding. Approximately 43% of households have no books at all.
"If I had my way, we would be publishing books that cost less than a loaf of bread," she says, "because I know as a parent if you put me in a bookstore and give me 500 rand, I'm going to think about milk and bread first." The real need for literacy resources, she argues, sits precisely in the communities least likely to be served by mainstream publishing.
Her work through the Centre for Social Innovation and the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiatives extends this same logic: use entrepreneurial thinking to address community challenges, whether in literacy, access to services, or economic development on the Cape Flats. 
What she would tell a young girl in Mitchell's Plain
Asked for a single piece of advice, Dr English offers three, each one a pillar of how she has lived her own life.
1.Dare to dream
"I always dreamt growing up in Mitchell's Plain. I still dream big dreams. Don't let where you come from shrink what you imagine for yourself."
2.Believe that you can
"It doesn't mean everything will come easy. But have confidence in yourself. Have goals. Believe you can reach them."
3.Find your mentors and never apologise for where you're from
"It doesn't have to be a professor. It can be your mom, your teacher, your church leader. Reach out to people and ask for help. And be proud of who you are."
To learn more about Dr Alicia English's work in children's literacy and social entrepreneurship:
www.oliveexchange.net
alicia@oliveexchange.co.za
The Olive Exchange (Facebook)
081 593 3690 (WhatsApp)
No comments:
Post a Comment