It's the end of the DA as we know it [or is it a realisation of the DA as they have always been?] i don't tend to write overtly political posts on here. Well, a lot of what i write is political but i mean with regards to specific political parties. But somehow that has changed during lockdown. It started with a post about a story i heard about when a crowd of homeless [...]
i would like to invite you to Race with Me. i am on a journey of anti-racism which begins in the mirror. Working on myself, checking for blind spots, looking to make sure that i am doing better at this than i was doing yesterday. Before moving on to my community and the systems and structures around me and seeing what differences can be made there. It always begins with me. i have not [...]
People seem to be jumping into race conversations more than ever. Which is great. With that comes a phrase that has the power to kickstart defensiveness for so many people: White Privilege "How dare you say I have white privilege? My family grew up poor!" "White Privilege? I had to work three jobs to get to where I am today!" "Maybe in the past that was a thing, but these days with BEE..." Are [...]
My friend Terence is so negative: Seriously though, on a day when white people were showing solidarity with their one black friend, Terence had to go and make them feel bad. And they did - read the comments. There must be discomfort when confronting injustice Let me just be clear here - Terence is not negative. i agree with his status completely. But it led to one interaction with an old friend of mine [...]
The Colourblind argument seems to be a confusing one for many people. White people, trying to do the right thing, often hold on to the statement: I don't see colour. While completely believing it. i would like to approach that from a different direction than i have before, which might make it easier for some of you to get. Many of my best friends are black, coloured and indian people. And no, that's not [...]
This has been a week of two stories when it comes to the homeless people of Cape Town or those who tend to live on the streets. Earlier this week i was encouraged and inspired to see testimony from the St Peters microsite that has been created to take care of around ten homeless men during lockdown. Which you can and should read about over here. A number of my friends are involved there [...]
Does the term 'anti-racist' sit well with you? i admit that any term that defines someone as something they're not or something they're against feels unwieldy to me. This is why i come out so strongly against the term 'non-white'. It puts white people in the middle as the norm or accepted or perfect thing and then distances anyone who is called non-white away from that. As if whiteness is normal or right or [...]
"Can we please stop talking about race?" You demand as you casually spit out "those people" As an insult to group all your prejudice into one demongraphic Unaware that you are talking about my friends. And the beautiful children of my friends. And their friends. And their friends. And. Their. Friends. It's as if your fear of the unknown Has manifested into your own inner demons Which are circling the deep chasm between Your [...]
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation last night. As he did - and this is not for the first time - i felt a sense of pride, the feeling of being led, a deep respect for the humility that was shown when he spoke about government miscommunicating and making mistakes, confusing messages, and contradictions. While he spoke, i jumped on to Facebook and simply wrote this: Such humility coming from Cyril Ramaphosa... [...]
It's been so good hearing from different people during our Life during Lockdown series. It is the chance of my friend Alexa to finish it off for now: Alexa is a mom to two busy boys, wife to a great guy and a social worker. Being outside makes her happiest but her big passion really is that people know that they matter. What has lockdown been like so far? It’s been a juggle: of [...]
