What notion do you have of what is right and wrong? Continuing with some thoughts shared from Trevor Noah's book: Born a Crime [2] Notions of Right and Wrong This passage deals with Trevor speaking about one of the ways he used to make money growing up, which essentially was selling stolen stuff. At the time he didn't seem to think of it as stealing or illegal and this is what he writes in Chapter [...]
Yesterday i shared a bit of a book review of Trevor Noah's new book, 'Born a Crime'. i would like to share a few of the excerpts from that book [which i recommend you get hold of] which jumped out at me: [1] Sometimes you have to start with a fish This one goes completely against my way of thinking, but made a lot of sense and so caused me to pause and rethink this [...]
i just finished reading 'Born a Crime' by Trevor Noah. Aaand i'm in two minds... there is something i can't quite put my finger on - whether the book feels lazy or rushed or perhaps ghost written from some audio tapes Trevor made... but it feels like something of him is missing. It certainly is not meant as a comedy book - although there are some good laughs [and many of those i got by [...]
Continuing my journey through Frantz Fanon's 'The Wretched of the Earth' and i came upon this passage. Some of this is a little scary. Some of it is helpful and inspirational. But i think it is all so important for us to read and take on and understand, that even if some of the bits on violence do not feel palatable to us, there are completely being welcomed by a number of other people who [...]
i am busy reading Frantz Fanon's 'The Wretched of the Earth'. Although to be fair it's probably more accurate to say it is reading me. This is what i call a big wade book and i'm usually not a fan. But there are some very significant and profound concepts in here that i am trying to grab hold of. Plus a lot of young activists in South Africa look to Fanon for inspiration. But it [...]
'I began to understand something quite important about South Africa: My fear of blacks was obscuring my understanding of the fear blacks felt for my white skin.' [Rian Malan, My Traitor's Heart] i am almost finished reading 'My Traitor's Heart' by Rian Malan which was highly recommended to me. The tagline of the book is 'A South African exile returns to face his country, his tribe, and his conscience.' Hm, it's been an interesting book [...]
"Always give someone else the best slice." Wow, that doesn't sound like me. Except maybe sometimes when i'm with my wife. But also even sometimes not. And actually it's not me, it's my good friend Dalene Reyburn, who wrote this super helpful piece, 'How to feast and not get fat this festive season: 20 small ideas.' There is some really good stuff in there, like: If you can, determine to give away at least half [...]
When it comes to things about race, i have been on a journey for just over two years. i have certainly not arrived and assume this will be a life long journey. But i did realise that i couldn't ignore it any more or choose to get involved if, when and how it suited me. Living in South Africa right now means that issues of race, justice and poverty have to be forefront in my [...]
i was driving to a university campus to do a Peace Justice Witness shift and listening to the band Bastille on a cd in my car. And the walls kept tumbling down In the city that we love Great clouds roll over the hills Bringing darkness from above And i thought to myself, "Wow, that seems like familiar imagery. i wonder if this is the #FMF theme song?" But if you close your eyes, Does [...]
How can i be a good ally to the people around me who are struggling with race issues? This is a question i have asked a lot. One of the things white people who join this conversation tend to do is expect people of colour to educate them on how not to be racist. So they have carried the burden of negative race vibes and now they must still do all the work of educating [...]
