i am loving this book tbV pickedup for me at The Warehouse by John Perkins. So much of it resonates with where my heart is for South Africa and, although he is using Americaland examples, so many of the truths still completely apply. WILL I HOLD THEIR DREAM The well-known Martin Luther King Jnr "I have a dream" speech was the dream of the black person in Americaland. But to be honest, it could only [...]
One of the signs of privilege in a country is the expectation that everyone else will address you in your mother tongue. This is typically true for white english-speakers in South Africa and not even remotely for black mother tongue Xhosa speakers. i would hate to find out the statistics for white people who can't even say the basics of "Hello" "What is your name?" "My name is..." in an African language but fortunately this [...]
i have just started reading a book called 'With Justice for All' by John Perkins, who was very much involved in the American Civil Rights movement and who i got to listen to at a CCDA conference when we were in Americaland. This first passage, although speaking about his country, resonated with much of what we see, feel and experience in South Africa. His definition of poverty is one i wish all of those who [...]
i love movies. But the other day i was sitting at the table with a group of guys and we spoke about movies for an hour and a half. It was an event so i felt kinda trapped in the seat i was in at the restaurant. And my head wanted to explode, because as much as i love movies, speaking about them for an hour and a half [in which everyone was pretty much [...]
It was just another praying through of the Lord's prayer... You know the deal, 'Our Father, who are in heaven, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, you know, find the rhythm blah blah blah lips moving to recreate words long worn into you in some ancient school assembly probably blah blah blah' WAIT, WHAT? There is was, middle of the prayer, Matthew 6, verse 11: 11 Give us today our daily bread. That's surely [...]
My friends Terran and Julie Williams were going about life with their three delightful children, sharing regular stories of funny statements and learnt lessons and chaotic moments, when suddenly the news of a 4th child on the way... and then further news that their 4th was a set of twins... If you think three young children is hard, try to get your head around five! Terran shared this piece on Facebook yesterday and gave me [...]
I know that I am cared for by an abundant Provider I choose to be grateful and trusting, I believe I have enough and that what I need will always be provided. I choose to be content and generous. I know that my choices matter for myself, for others and for future generations. Help me to live consciously and creatively, celebrating signs of your new creation that is present and coming. Creator, who made me [...]
i somehow got into two Facebook argumersations yesterday at the same time. TWO! i can't remember that happening before. i usually try pick my battles one at a time, but somehow, two different articles i shared, generated two different fairly strong push backs. Which i love. i love it when people push back and are genuinely committed to the conversation and engaging and not simply being trolls or palookas. But sometimes [especially when it's people [...]
i have read some REALLY helpful articles about privilege this week. My fear is that the appearance of the word 'privilege' with the assumption of it being specifically 'white privilege' on my blog immediately drives the very people i am wanting to hear and engage with this stuff away. But my hope, which is so much stronger than my fear, is that there are people like Bob [who a bunch of us had this long [...]
This is a hard but necessary passage to share from Steve Biko's 'I Write What I Like' which you should totally get hold of and read in its entirety. Hard, because it is true. Not true that the black man is inferior, but that the idea of the black man being inferior has been so deeply entrenched in so many of us, that it is an extremely hard and horrible thing to admit to when [...]