thorts of other people : Brett Fish

Taboo Topics: Race – What I would love my white friends to hear – Meet Tshego Motiang

When this topic first came up, I chose not to get involved because I knew the controversy it would cause. People on all sides are generally exceptionally sensitive when it come to the topic of race. We can never just talk about our differences without an argument ensuing. Someone always has to overact out of offense and someone else will always have to pay by taking the blame. The conversation is almost not worth having [...]

By brettfish|2014-04-16T22:12:19+02:00April 16th, 2014|challenging thorts, change the world, inspire-ations, people, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments

Taboo Topics: Race – The power of words…

i came across this article, '21 Racial Microaggressions You Hear On A Daily Basis', posted by Heben Nigatu on Buzzfeed, made me unbelievably sad, and in the context of the conversations we are having at Irresistibly Fish, felt like something worth adding in here so that some more people will hopefully have that 'Oh' moment of getting this a little bit more. 'The term “microaggression” was used by Columbia professor Derald Sue to refer to [...]

By brettfish|2014-04-16T17:35:45+02:00April 16th, 2014|change the world, pain and Hope, people, shtupidt people, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments

Taboo Topics: Race – What I would love my white friends to hear – meet Siki Dlanga

Every important thing has been said particularly by Tsholofelo Mpuru! You nailed it girl. I don’t even know why I am writing but Brett asked and I said yes. This is my pet hate. A lot of white people may not be guilty of this. I hope. I mentioned to a Zimbabwean friend of mine this month just how much I absolutely detest being asked whether I am Zimbabwean by a white South African or [...]

By brettfish|2014-04-15T21:54:06+02:00April 15th, 2014|challenging thorts, pain and Hope, people, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|8 Comments

Your comments on race…

this is not going to be a blog post as much as it is going to be an invitation to a comments forum where you can jump in and share your thoughts on any aspect of race - good, bad and ugly... when you think of race, what comes to mind - can be happy, sad, confusing, angry, celebratory... but keep it civil - am good with questions and statements and stories but not overt [...]

By brettfish|2014-04-15T10:02:25+02:00April 15th, 2014|activities, thorts of other people|0 Comments

40ish Days of Lent: Day 39ish

DAY 39ish i saw this prayer/poem/reflection? on my friend Conso's Facebook wall and thought it was too good not to share... Task: Mediate and reflect on the following words as they have meaning for you: Until i encountered the CROSS... i knew confession but did not know repentance, i knew ritual but did not know true worship, i knew guilt and shame but did not know redemption, i knew judgement and condemnation but did [...]

By brettfish|2014-04-15T07:07:15+02:00April 15th, 2014|activities, bible things, God stuff, inspire-ations, thorts of other people, worship|0 Comments

Taboo Topics: Race – What I would love my white friends to hear: Meet Hulisani Khorombi

Where on earth do I even start with this topic? “What I want my white friends to know” seems like such a direct attack to some of my closest friends and those who I am still to meet. I absolutely love my friends so how could I write this? Then I thought about how much I really want to say some things and I sat down to type this. First of all I come [...]

By brettfish|2014-04-14T23:21:34+02:00April 14th, 2014|friends and enemas, pain and Hope, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments

Taboo Topics: Race – What I would love my white friends to hear – meet Mhlengi Mpungose

"I did not benefit from apartheid, therefore why should I be held liable" # this is just one heck of a common statement that I hear from a lot of my white friends and I find it unwarranted because it lacks intellectual credibility, empathy, responsiveness and a sense of self awareness - "white privilege" is the damn elephant in the room -# as a black man I'm always an immediate suspect, thanks to this stereotype caricature that [...]

By brettfish|2014-04-13T22:02:19+02:00April 13th, 2014|challenging thorts, pain and Hope, people, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments

Taboo Topics: Race – What makes me me – Meet Deborah Dowlath

The country where I was born. The ethnic composition of my parents. My gender. What do these things have in common? None of them are sufficient to describe who I am. As human beings, made in God’s image and likeness, we consist of body, soul and spirit. Being a Trinidadian born female whose parents have Indian, Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish and Caucasian ancestors are all factors which impact my body, but not my soul and spirit, [...]

By brettfish|2014-04-12T12:23:15+02:00April 12th, 2014|change the world, inspire-ations, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments

Taboo Topics: Race – What I would love my white friends to hear: Meet Tsholofelo Mpuru [part ii]

my friend Tsholo had a bit of a p.s. to her first share on racism and i felt like it warranted a post of its own so it didn't get lost - this is a 47 minute video but i encourage you to make some time and watch it because it is so powerful. i am a little scared that the choir will get it and everyone else will make excuses so try and watch [...]

By brettfish|2014-04-11T20:12:12+02:00April 11th, 2014|shtupidt people, Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|0 Comments

Taboo Topics: Race

i wasn't originally thinking of this as a Taboo Topic topic. but then when i started looking on the book of faces for people to write for me and had friends using terms like 'can of worms' and 'Pandora's Box' to describe what i was suggesting, it made me wonder if that is not exactly where it needs to go. is no one speaking about this? having lived in Americaland for the last three years [in diverse and mixed [...]

By brettfish|2014-04-11T07:30:02+02:00April 11th, 2014|Taboo Topics, thorts of other people|49 Comments