SOUTH AFRICA
These are some of the recent posts that i and others have made to hopefully challenge and encourage and educate you as you try and figure out how to do life better in South Africa. Please feel free to share any of these posts that are helpful with people you think it might help to take one more step towards…
All Lives Smatter – a collection of thoughts about race, painting all people with the same brush and the need for whites to engage with whites
All White Lives Matter – a “Black Lives Matter for Dummies” kind of post
Ask before you leap [to conclusions] – a post looking at how we engage when we engage with others on race
8 Steps to help me become a better ally of my friends of colour – a short but helpful reminder
But pity the mutants – a painful look at how white people are able to feel more empathy for fictional characters and pets than black people
Entitlement with an “i” – a brief glimpse into the problem of entitlement in our country
If I were white, I’d have been able to breathe – guest post by Thandi Nkomo
Race with me – short video clips explaining race issues simply to white people
She turned to me and asked me if being an Umlungu was something i enjoyed.
The Better Black/Coloured/Indian – some friends share stories about the standard of whiteness that has been pressured on them
The queen, my dad, and Sarafina – guest post by Thandi Nkomo
Ways in which white people are better than black people [part I] – a very short post.
Ways in which white people aren’t better than black people [part II] – a more wordier post.
When someone with an African name gives you their “easier” English name.
When the offence is that you’re offended – looking a little deeper into entitlement in South Africa.
Biko: A Biography – some thoughts and words
So recently i finished reading the book, 'Biko: A Biography' by Xolela Mangcu It is not often that you get to hang out with the guy who authored the book you are reading [unless you [...]
More thoughts on ‘Thoughts on the New South Africa’ – Neville Alexander
i shared some of Neville Alexander's thoughts with regards to capitalism in my first post on his book, 'Thoughts on the New South Africa' which you can read over here. This is a second passage [...]
the question of anger
What do we do with anger on the internet? It's five days later and i have found writing part II of this anger piece pretty difficult. Part I dealt with Jesus and His take on [...]
Dear Fish: What do we do with the anger?
i received an email from a friend of mine on Facebook who is asking some questions that relate quite strongly to some stuff i have been giving a lot of thought to, especially this last [...]
21 votes of confidence
Jacob Zuma is still the president. Not too many surprises there i don't think, although the 21 vote margin may have been a lot closer than many people suspected. But it certainly was no Brexit [...]
No Confidence in the No Confidence
When i hear the words 'secret ballot' i immediately change them to 'secret ballet' and feel like there is some kind of underground mysterious quite-possibly-Russian dance extravaganza happening that i wasn't invited to. And will [...]
The Better Coloured: some thoughts from Terence Mentor
i asked me friend Terence if he would share some thoughts about the concept of 'The Better Coloured' and he came up with these: “Yeah, but you’re one of the good ones” My friend and [...]
The Better Coloured/Black/Indian
i first heard the term 'the better black' from a friend of mine who i am hoping will share a bit of her story for this series at some stage. It was shared in the [...]
We are still calling him ‘boy’
Another day, another person calling a grown man who works in your garden 'boy' - these racists are everywhere, right? Except this time it wasn't a racist. And in fact, it came in the context [...]
Revisiting Angus Buchan: time to share some stories…
It has been exactly three months since i posted about the Angus Buchan prayer time in Bloemfontein which i wrote about here. Which got a lot of people mad. How dare i challenge such an [...]
#NotOnOurWatch II: Tattoo man vs car guard
Having spoken about and encouraged the #NotOnOurWatch hashtag commitment for probably over a year now, i just had my second big encounter [you can read about the first one here], which i wrote about on [...]
Agreeing to disagree in the very best of ways…
'Howzit buddy, just got to Bootleggers.' [Whatsapp from Lukhanyo Neer] What a great message to receive. i had been looking forward to connecting with Lukhanyo for a while, since i had met him at The [...]