pain and Hope : Brett Fish

Taboo Topics: Race – Mixed Race Connections – Meet Wendy and Xylon Van Eyck

[Disclaimer: while in Americaland, the term “coloured” is a strongly negative term, in South Africa there is a unique group of people who have come from a heritage of different cultures but now have developed their own distinct culture. They are neither black nor white, nor are they mixed race, and they would call themselves ‘coloured'.] Marriage and Melanin “You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. We will make it through this.” The [...]

By brettfish|2015-05-12T16:04:45+02:00May 12th, 2015|family, inspire-ations, pain and Hope, relationships, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments

Some thoughts from Spaghetti conversations [with Nkosi Wiseman Gola]

My friend Nkosi has written for me a number of times on this blog and so it was a great privilege to have him around for a special meal on Friday night with some friends, that i wrote about over here, and i asked him to share some of his impressions from the evening: Conversation is an integral part of transformation. It was for this reason that I went to Brett's house together with Monde [...]

By brettfish|2015-05-12T07:56:12+02:00May 12th, 2015|change the world, Food and foodlike things, inspire-ations, pain and Hope, people, the beautiful Val (tbV), things to wrestle with, thorts of other people|0 Comments

How a Plate of Spaghetti and an Argentina football player hold the Hope for South Africa.

i do not have adequate words to describe last nite. i am scared that the ones i use will do it injustice as there is no adequate way to capture what went down at our home as some friends from Sybrand Park, Khayelitsha, Kayamandi, Wynberg, Nyanga, Manenberg and Southfield came together for a meal and some intense conversation. Spaghetti is a contradiction food all in itself. It is NOT good first date food. It is [...]

By brettfish|2015-05-09T10:38:12+02:00May 9th, 2015|activities, change the world, Food and foodlike things, friends and enemas, inspire-ations, pain and Hope, people, things to wrestle with|17 Comments

No Life of My Own: Part Violence Avoided

This is the last part i want to share from this book, but once again suggest that you grab a copy and read it in its entirety, especially if you are a white South African trying to get a fuller education of this country's history. This is a letter that Frank Chikane wrote on the 26th June 1986 that is addressed to the Institute For Contextual Theology but would have done well to land in [...]

By brettfish|2015-05-08T07:30:00+02:00May 8th, 2015|pain and Hope, thorts of other people, what i am reading|0 Comments

Jesus Feminist: Part Unwelcome Questions

So i recently finished reading the book Jesus Feminist by one of my favourite writery people, Sarah Bessey and thought i should share some of the highlight/challenging/interesting moments for me: In chapter three, titled 'Tangled-Up Roots', Sarah starts the chapter with this great George Carlin quote: Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist And then, speaking from a time when she was employed full-time and realising that women's ministry was largely aimed [...]

By brettfish|2015-05-04T09:21:31+02:00May 4th, 2015|inspire-ations, pain and Hope, thorts of other people, what i am reading|0 Comments

Maybe you ARE a racist butt…

My friend, Rebecca, who has written before on my blog - a message to South Africa over here, and about her journey with dyslexia over here - wrote this as a status update the other day: Dear racist old man on the Pavilion escalator. I'm sorry you smashed your phone screen and that it's going to cost you R4000 to fix. But you don't have to call the salesman you talked to that [insert derogatory name] [...]

By brettfish|2015-04-30T12:17:34+02:00April 30th, 2015|change the world, pain and Hope, things to wrestle with|5 Comments

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 [...]

By brettfish|2015-04-29T07:58:48+02:00April 29th, 2015|challenging thorts, change the world, local news, pain and Hope, things to wrestle with, thorts of other people|0 Comments

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 [...]

By brettfish|2015-04-28T13:18:21+02:00April 28th, 2015|challenging thorts, change the world, pain and Hope, things to wrestle with, thorts of other people|13 Comments

What about Bob? And Colette?

So those of you who follow my blog will be aware that i received an email from a friend who wanted to remain anonymous but was wrestling with some questions and issues as a white South African who is currently living overseas but looking in. i published Bob's email over here. i then invited some of my friends to respond and so far Alexa [white woman], Marlyn [coloured guy] and Tsholo [black woman] have shared [...]

By brettfish|2015-04-27T09:37:30+02:00April 27th, 2015|challenges, pain and Hope, things to wrestle with, thorts of other people|46 Comments

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 [...]

By brettfish|2015-04-24T07:11:44+02:00April 24th, 2015|challenging thorts, change the world, pain and Hope, things to wrestle with, thorts of other people|27 Comments