If you're never offended, you're probably dead. i remember hearing an excellent preach by my friend Albert, a Korean-American pastor in Americaland, on the subject of intolerance. He suggested that we are all intolerant, but that we choose what to be intolerant towards. If you believe in a clean and appealing neighbourhood or city, then you will rightly be intolerant towards litter. If you believe in the basic human right of living, then you will [...]
How can i be a good ally to the people around me who are struggling with race issues? This is a question i have asked a lot. One of the things white people who join this conversation tend to do is expect people of colour to educate them on how not to be racist. So they have carried the burden of negative race vibes and now they must still do all the work of educating [...]
The other day i asked a simple question in a Race Engagement group i belong to on Facebook, believing it was a safe place. i actually had typed out my question as a status and then decided last second to move it to the group cos it would probably be more appropriate there. The first person who responded made me feel like an idiot for asking the question and challenged my sincerity in asking it. [...]
[Due to a funeral happening this Saturday, the date of this gathering has been pushed forward a week to the 24th] Let's talk about race, baby... tbV and i have been back in South Africa for just over two years and for most of that time i have been talking about race online in different ways and trying to read and learn and listen and figure out and engage with so many different people in [...]
'One day there were two boys, Tom and Bernard. Tom lived right opposite Bernard. One day Tom stole Bernard's bicycle and every day Bernard saw Tom cycling to school on it. After a year, Tom went up to Bernard, stretched out his hand and said, "Let us reconcile and put the past behind us." Bernard looked at Tom's hand. "And what about the bicycle?" Father Mxolisi Mpambani told this story during a lunch-hour panel discussion [...]
Two short pieces on racism that you might find very helpful: THREE LEVELS OF RACISM My friend Matt Talley, who i met in Americaland but who is currently living and working with his family in Spain, sent me this from a class he is doing. It's super simple but I don't think I had heard the three levels labeled this way before. Of course I've heard the labels of personal racism and institutional/structural racism. But [...]
i attended a race panel last night called Real Talk where we got to hear stories from a black, coloured and white person [tbV]. It was a really great time and hopefully more churches and organisations will start hosting these moments of just getting to hear each other and catch glimpses into journeys that have been quite different from ours. One of the stories that Mbulelo shared was about the time he was on a plane [...]
Have you heard about the #NotOnOurWatch movement of interrupting racism? i have really enjoyed having some back and forth conversations with my friend Trevor [whose work you can see on his Swart Donkey blog] and this one we had in the last few weeks, that has now been converted to a blog post, was one of my favourite... just in terms of getting a conversation started and hopefully there is some food for thought in [...]
My friend Jess shared this with me a while back and in all the sickness and busyness and awayness it kinda got lost for a bit, but i found it again and there is some super helpful stuff in here: When Beyonce’ dropped her single, Formation, off her new album Lemonade, I sat in a coffee shop and cried while watching it on repeat. Not just because I know I’ll never have such good dance moves, [...]
i really loved this post i read from a friend of mine on Facebook today: My friend just got kicked out a crime watch Whatsapp group in Morningside, Sandton for posting "Just spotted a white male walking up my street! Be careful everyone!" Well, loved and hated, because it sadly just proved something i have heard on many occasions - that a lot of Neighbourhood Watch Whatsapp groups are hives for both subtle and quite [...]
