challenging thorts

‘i, church’ – Let’s hear from from Steve Graybill

My good friend Steve Graybill from Americaland, who has written for my blog before both on his strength weakness [which he identified, ironically enough, as a thirst for knowledge] and also on Sex in Marriage recently bought a copy of my book, 'i, church' on Amazon. He had some questions and thoughts which he shared with me via email and i asked him if he would write them into a post so that we could get more people [...]

What about Bob? A commentator weighs in: Meet Martha Mmebe

Martha, like Tsholo and Dre, was someone else who shared some thoughts in the comments section of the 'What about Bob?' conversation and i didn't want her words to be missed so i asked her to expand it into a longer post and here it is: [I am a young Black South African lady, working in a male dominant industry and studying towards my Bcom Degree. Very much active member of the society and believing [...]

What ABOUT Bob? Dre brings the CAPS.

My friend Dre [actually Andrea Thorpe] has been commenting at various places in the 'What about Bob?' conversation and so i asked her if she'd be up to sharing some thoughts of her own... [I’m a white, English-speaking South African. I was born in the Eastern Cape in the ‘80s. I studied Journalism and Media Studies and English at Rhodes University, and later completed my Masters in English at Stellenbosch. I’m now roughly halfway through [...]

What about Bob? a response by Tsholo Mpuru

My friend Tsholo commented on the Bob letter in the comments section, but her comment was so long and specific that i didn't want it to be missed and so i asked her if it would be alright if i ran it as another post in this series and she said yes: [Meet Tsholo: I am a 31 year old black female - lover of music and all things pink. Born and raised in the Free [...]

What about Bob? a response by Marlyn

This is a second response to my friend 'Bob's anonymous letter, which you can read here. Marlyn Faure is a friend of Alexa who has been wanting me to connect with and meet him, and he felt up to the challenge of responding to Bob as well in his own words and so here they are. [Meet Marlyn - I am 26 year old coloured male from Cape Town. Currently I am doing my Honours [...]

What about Bob? a response by Alexa

This is a response to yesterday's shared anonymous letter, What About Bob? and so if you have not read that yet, start there and then come back here and continue. Alexa is a good friend of mine who has been involved in many of the conversations we have had on race, reconciliation, restitution and other terms that may not begin with R but this is stuff she is passionate about and doing her best to live [...]

What about Bob?

A week or so ago, i received an email from an old friend of mine who is currently living outside of South Africa and who asked to remain anonymous. Let's call him 'Bob'. Bob emailed me some thoughts about the current situation in South Africa and his feeling as a white South African at this time. As i read through Bob's mail i had some strong reactions to some of the stuff he is saying, [...]

By |2016-06-06T11:15:05+02:00April 21st, 2015|challenging thorts, things to wrestle with|25 Comments

How about more zen, less phobia?

i get it, South Africa is in a bit of a mess right now, and that statement is a bit of an understatement. And yes, xenophobia might not be the correct word, but it's the one most people understand and so it does seem to work for now so please don't let us get distracted by that. With this whole Xenophobia vibe, there are two truths: [1] One truth is violence, fear, destruction, hate [2] Another [...]

Pearls before Phones

As many of you know i am a big Pearls before Swine fan and own all the books and am constantly inviting [slash harrassing] PBS creator Stephan Pastis to include the world's most famous stuffed dolphin in his strip. Usually just for laughs, but every now and then, Pastis nails something on the so-serious-it-punches-you-in-the-gut side of things and so when he tackles a pet peeve of mine, you know it's going to be good: As [...]

By |2015-04-17T10:32:18+02:00April 17th, 2015|challenging thorts, change the world|0 Comments

How to overcome our biases by walking boldly towards them [Verna Myers]

i know not everyone has the time or internet capacity to watch video clips online, but if you do then i encourage you to watch this one. It speaks directly into the Americaland conversation at the moment in terms of violence from police offers on black young men but also just a greater focus on the bias of society, and particularly white society when it comes to black young men. i believe it has a [...]

Go to Top