They often say that during a crisis, to know who your true friends are, just look left and right. Actually i don’t know if they do say that, i just came up with it but i’m pretty sure if i try and claim it some dead guy is going to come forward and say, “Um actually Brett Fish, that one is mine.” Like that whole “I have a dream” debacle. Okay not quite, but still. [...]
i did my best to compile some helpful resources linked to the #FeesMustFall movement in this post i did ‘From a Number of Different Eyes and Mouths’ and this second post which shared more thoughts as well as first-hand experiences of others. But i knew that to really get a feel for what was happening and to be a more active part of it, we needed to get on the ground and so we did that today [...]
Continuing from yesterday’s post highlighting some very helpful thinking when it comes to this #FeesMustFall movement, i just wanted to share some other helpful [and harrowing] posts from yesterday to help people find a bunch of useful stuff in one space. If you find this helpful at all then please share it and tag the people you think need to read this. The biggest problem i have witnessed in so many white people is the [...]
The last two days have been a blur of action and comment and conversation and reporting and trying to figure out exactly what is what and who is who in the whole South African #FeesMustFall movement. It is complicated and tricky and confusing and yet SO SO IMPORTANT and so it is up to each one of us to do the best we can in terms of figuring out our understanding and our involvement. Here [...]
Continuing my series looking at how white people can be more effective allies to their friends of colour as we seek reconciliation and restitution and try to see South Africa head more towards where it should be... The title of this post might seem like a bit of a contradiction having just written one called Move to the Back, but it's not. Last night i was lamenting to my wife, tbV, that life as an [...]
Turning the Tide one white hand calling to another to tear itself away from the clenched fist it has become accustomed to to step away and towards the sea of black faces looking on exhibiting so much welcoming grace forgiveness patience but at the edges one can start to see the restlessness is beginning to show [For other poetry i have written this year, click here]
LET'S LEARN FROM THIS GUY A couple of different people shared this story with me this last week and it was so powerful that i really wanted to try and capture the heart of it in a blog post so it would stick around for longer. You have likely seen this iconic Olympic photograph before and wondered, like myself and so many others, what is going through the white guy's mind and possibly questioned his [...]
Continuing the search on how to be a more effective ally when it comes to my black, coloured and indian friends in South Africa. While it was not specifically an Ally Series post, this piece i did yesterday titled, ‘Before I Comment’ is one we would all do well to pay attention to. Thinking before we rush in to an argument with an opinion or to try and take control is a definite way we [...]
i LOVE that description of Generosity - being open-handed. We experienced that this week. tbV had a conversation with one of the car guards down the road from us and found out that he had a baby daughter and some issues with getting formula for her. She stuck up a question on Facebook for her paediatrician friends and had a whole host of answers and suggestions [and volunteers of assistance and even resource-gathering] within the hour. [...]
Yesterday i wrote a post titled, 'Before you favourite, RT, forward...' which started with Back to the Future memes [not serious at all] and ended with alleged swimming lesson racism [very serious]. The focus being on people on various social media platforms sharing stories that arrive as 'Breaking News' or are sensational or emotionally-charged, before they have bothered to check whether they are authentic or not. i want to take it a little bit further today, [...]