Why do we have such a problem with being called racist? i wonder if it is because some of us have a slightly messed up understanding of what it means when we talk about racism. Let me give you an example. When many of us think of racism, we tend to think of this definition that Robin di Angelo [author of the book, White Fragility] uses as an example: 'An individual who consciously does [...]
i attended a 50th birthday party last night. Of someone i have met twice... i was in the minority [as a white person] and one of the youngest people in the room [which doesn't happen a lot for me] and it was such a complete vibe. In fact, as tbV will attest, being in a space with fifteen to twenty people where i only know two of them [the hosts] is traditionally one of my [...]
Why would anyone need Facebook Tips you may ask? Isn't social media just the easiest thing to use? Well, yes and no. Technically it is as simple as pointing and clicking, but there are ways we can use it which encourage and invite conversation and happy faces. There are also things we can do - or not do - which can close down engagement or make people mad or sad or bad or combos [...]
South Africa are the World Cup Rugby champions [of the world, as Queen might add, but possibly not the queen, as we completely smashed her side!] which is a really good thing. Or a really bad thing. Depending on who you speak to. For starters, when the squad was announced and this photo was taken, you could be forgiven as a stranger to the sport and the country, for thinking this is not a [...]
Why do we need 40 Tips for Men? And why am i the one dishing them out? Well, if you want to see my motivation for 40 Tips for Men, which started directly after the death of Uyinene Mrwetyana and the countrywide gatherings against Gender-Based Violence that followed, you can read about it over here. But if you're asking am i the self-proclaimed perfect man who has arrived and is now freely dispensing divine [...]
What do i mean by a 'Racism Spectrum'? This morning i chatted to four grade 6s about Racism. Don't get me wrong, that's not a regular hobby of mine - "Hey kids, gather round and listen to how awful your ancestors were..." - in fact, this was an amazing opportunity gifted to me by a friend of mine who teaches at their school. Grade sixes were doing a project and four of them chose [...]
Moving on to the last 5 tips of our #40TipsForMen series: 40 Tips for Men: Tip #36 Recognise, Acknowledge and Leverage your privilege. Now these will have largely been covered in other tips, but i think this little three prong process can be a harder one. And imagine men might be a little less defensive about getting this one that white people, perhaps because it is spoken about a lot less. The idea of [...]
Art has caused a big stir this week. The question we need to perhaps ask is: Demonic art or Demonic Heart? when it comes to a Grantleigh Curro school matric pupil's art display... In the light of Artgate, i thought it might be helpful to collate a number of the posts i have shared about this, mostly from friends of mine, to hopefully help us think about the whole thing a little more clearly: [...]
This is a not a post about anger. It is not a post about tone policing. This is not even a post about who can say what to who [nope, not saying whom there, it's 2019, come on!] Although it may contain some of those things. Rather, it is a post about me, Brett "Fish" Anderson, trying to figure out how we are most likely to arrive at the best results and see change. [...]
Yesterday i wrote some thoughts about the Bishops sex scandal where a female teacher allegedly had sex with an 18 year old learner from Bishops. There were possibly more incidents involving other learners, possibly over a number of years and 'jokes' and apparently a rather disturbing video of the teacher have been doing the rounds at alarming rates. Bishops sex scandal clarifications This morning i added some thoughts: [1] We need to keep talking [...]
