What a shock some of you reading this will get when you discover that my dad, yes, my biological father, is coloured. “But you look so white!” many have noted. Well done. It is true – I am a mixed baby, although I got the paler skin of our mother while my brother has many a time been compared to a Mexican. We’ve heard some interesting guesses of our ethnicity over the years: Portuguese, Brazilian, [...]
Here are simply a collection of stories from people who have lived in countries or areas of diversity and have a race theme to a part of their story which they have so graciously decided to share with us: Meet Deborah Dowlath [Trinidad and Tobago] Meet Kevin Lloyd James Lok [South Africa] Meet Caley Daniels [South Africa] Meet Susan Hayden [reblog of 'Disco Pants & a Mountain' post]
What makes a person? What makes me, me? For me I’ve struggled with identity for my entire Life – one of the biggest struggles I’ve had over my identity is the one over ‘race’ (now many would consider it strange for a white guy to struggle with identity over race and don’t get me wrong – I’ve never thought I am not white) the reasons being that I was brought up (My mom assisted [...]
Wow. Boom. Things just got real people. Having just witnessed Simon Peter's 'Life or Death' declaration of absolute faithfulness to Jesus at the Last Supper, we now have this follow up story where Peter is denying Jesus left, right and centre... until suddenly, the piercing sound of a rooster is heard... Join me as i work through Mark 14.66-72: [For the next passage which sees Jesus standing before Pontius Pilate, click [...]
When Brett asked for some volunteers on this topic I sprung at the chance but it has taken me a while to get some words down as I wasn’t sure what to say or what aspect to focus on or what I really wanted people to get out of this post… To be honest I am still not 100% sure but I hope either way it will challenge you to think deeply about race, relationships [...]
[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'.] We’re no different than any other couple. Well, we are. Roxanne is from South Africa and colo(u)red and Greg [...]
One of the most insidious forms of racism or paternalism is to take the voice of another away from them. I do not intend to speak for black people in this post and so rob them of their own dignity and humanity. You see, I am white and so I can only ever speak as a white male. While I can resist speaking for another I can choose to speak with another so adding strength [...]
"Not taking offense is 10 times harder than not giving it. Try going a day without taking offense when criticized." That is how Peter Enns ends off this simple but profound blog piece titled '6 thoughts–let’s call them tips–on publicly criticizing and being criticized' and while you should totally go and read the whole piece to see his explanations of each point, i thought i would simply share the six points he makes: 1. To write is [...]
Hello. I'm Shana, and I have a husband. He's Carl. We haven't been married very long but we are married nonetheless. I'm not really a writer, so I'm not really going to make this sound good or write particularly well, but over the past 2 and a half years of marriage I've been putting together a mental list of things I'd like my single friends to know. Here goes (all harshness unintended): 1) When your [...]
Sometimes good intentions aren't enough. Take the New York Police Department, who in an attempt to foster better relations with the public decided on this great plan: "Do you have a photo with a member of the NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD. It may be featured on our Facebook," the department posted on its NYPD News Twitter feed, hoping to fuel a feel-good, low-cost public relations campaign. Or how about that time in [...]