i first heard the term 'the better black' from a friend of mine who i am hoping will share a bit of her story for this series at some stage. It was shared in the context of her being part of a church congregation that looked very diverse on the outside but where she felt pressure to look and behave in ways acceptable to white people so as to fit in. Phrases like; "You speak [...]
Another day, another person calling a grown man who works in your garden 'boy' - these racists are everywhere, right? Except this time it wasn't a racist. And in fact, it came in the context of a social justice looking-out-for-people-of-colour post [because let's face it, i have still to experience a white domestic worker in this country, although i'm sure your friend knows of one] in the form of a Facebook status: Seeking justice for [...]
It has been exactly three months since i posted about the Angus Buchan prayer time in Bloemfontein which i wrote about here. Which got a lot of people mad. How dare i challenge such an obviously God thing and good people with good intentions gathering together to pray for the country? How can that possibly be a bad thing? If i remember correctly, my writing on the prayer event was more questioning than condemning and [...]
Having spoken about and encouraged the #NotOnOurWatch hashtag commitment for probably over a year now, i just had my second big encounter [you can read about the first one here], which i wrote about on Facebook: Climb out of my car at Canal Walk to see this decently large tattooed white guy swearing at a smaller foreign black man car guard cos of some entitled not-getting-the-information-he-was-looking-for nonsense so I shouted at him and walked over [...]
'Howzit buddy, just got to Bootleggers.' [Whatsapp from Lukhanyo Neer] What a great message to receive. i had been looking forward to connecting with Lukhanyo for a while, since i had met him at The Justice Conference in March and again after interacting on some #MenAreTrash vibes on Facebook. This week tbV [the beautiful Val] has been away at a retreat and i have filled a lot of my time with meetings and connections and [...]
'Once again, police get away with murder.' Those are the words Julia Wallace used to begin this article she wrote about the murder of Philandro Castile and the subsequent "Not Guilty" acquittal of Jeromino Yanez, the police offer who clearly panicked [if you have watched the horrific video of the shooting], killing him in front of his girlfriend and four year old daughter in a car. Everything in the incident seems to give unequivocal evidence as [...]
Continuing the ‘Race with Me’ video series i take a look at one thing that has been super helpful for me in terms of learning and growing and becoming better prepared for conversations about race and knowing that changes i need to make in my own life. If you have asked the question, “What can I do?’ in terms of race vibes, this is a very good place to start. For more [...]
i mentioned that the other night about thirty of us of various ages, genders and races hung out at The Warehouse in Wetton to discuss Economics and Theology. Wayne Eaves chaired a bit of a conversation between Ashley Visagie and Cobus van Wyngaard and then the floor was opened to questions. Here are some things that i learned or found interesting beyond the History isn't over point i spoke about in my previous post: # [...]
Celebrating diversity. This weekend i spent time with some young adults from across the St. Johns parish of six churches that i am part of and some others who were from outside of that as well. It was inspiring, fun, challenging, cold, enlightening and just really an amazing weekend. It was diverse in so many ways which was an absolute highlight. The Davidses The weekend was hosted by a friend of mine, Keegan Davids, who [...]
Another major tournament, another exit. Traditionally that would be the end of my day and i'd be in an emotional slump for the next couple of hours and quietly sad for the next few days as i try and get over the emotional burden another South African cricket loss places on me. But this time it's different. Because i don't even care. The emotional burden that i do carry is from the fact that i [...]
