LET'S LEARN FROM THIS GUY A couple of different people shared this story with me this last week and it was so powerful that i really wanted to try and capture the heart of it in a blog post so it would stick around for longer. You have likely seen this iconic Olympic photograph before and wondered, like myself and so many others, what is going through the white guy's mind and possibly questioned his [...]
Continuing the search on how to be a more effective ally when it comes to my black, coloured and indian friends in South Africa. While it was not specifically an Ally Series post, this piece i did yesterday titled, ‘Before I Comment’ is one we would all do well to pay attention to. Thinking before we rush in to an argument with an opinion or to try and take control is a definite way we [...]
i LOVE that description of Generosity - being open-handed. We experienced that this week. tbV had a conversation with one of the car guards down the road from us and found out that he had a baby daughter and some issues with getting formula for her. She stuck up a question on Facebook for her paediatrician friends and had a whole host of answers and suggestions [and volunteers of assistance and even resource-gathering] within the hour. [...]
i have just started reading this book by Ron Sider who we got to hang out with a little bit during our time at the Simple Way in Philly a couple of years ago. Recently he visited South Africa and i got to hear him speak and thought it was high time i got hold of this book which has influenced so many people. This part i want to share is just from the Foreword [...]
We caught a glimpse of this in the #IAmStellenbosch campaign where a group of well-meaning students drew up some posters highlighting something about them that made them unique or different to the stereotype that their skin colour or background might typically suggest. It received a huge backlash from the media and people of all races across the country for a number of reasons. Possibly the biggest one was that once again we saw a race problem [...]
When i was looking for an image to reflect the idea of becoming an Ally i found this poster and really liked it. Because the question that i am wrestling with at the moment is just that: How to Be a Better Ally, specifically when it comes to matters of Race. And possibly one of the biggest pieces of this puzzle is that the answer should not have to come from people of colour. [...]
Sometimes as i am typing a comment on Facebook i pause for a moment to think of all the people going, "Oh man, there he goes again." i imagine for a lot of people i am THAT GUY. i found out years ago at church that there was a certain lady, who, anytime i opened my mouth at a meeting, switched off immediately because she knew i was going to rant about a certain thing. [...]
We can all remember that iconic moment from the Bruce Willis/Haley Joel Osment thriller 'The Sixth Sense' and if you have not seen it yet, then be warned of the biggest spoiler of all. The face of Cole Sear peeking out from behind the safety of his blanket as he whispers the iconic, "I see dead people!" i feel like that on a far-too-regular basis on The Facebook as i read statuses of people negative [...]
Ndiyavuya Ukukwazi. It means “no worries, for the rest of your life”. Oh no, wait, that’s something else. ‘Ndiyavuya ukukwazi’ is the Xhosa phrase i am trying to learn today, as tbV and myself and a roomful of others move into week two of our six week Xhosa class and attempt to get the basic conversationals under our belts. It is nice to meet you. i just thought that since this is such a significant [...]
i really enjoyed reading this book by John Perkins recently. Despite being about his experiences in Americaland i found that so much of it resonated with the present conversations happening in South Africa. The passage i posted on Why Do You Live Where You Live? gave much food for thought and there are some other pieces i would love to share, but as always, you will do much better if you just make some effort [...]