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
But What Can I Do? – 40 Tips for white South Africans genuinely asking this question
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.
A glimpse of dignity: a parable of Napoleon Webster
"Where did you two meet?" "That's easy. He [me] is an activist and I [Napoleon] am an activist. We were introduced by another activist [Nigel Branken]." That was part of an exchange that happened yesterday [...]
The black woman speaker, the deputy principal and a truckload of exclamation marks…
Can i just start by saying that i absolutely LOVE the [majority of the] community who wrestle with me with aspects of race and privilege and poverty and more on social media. It is probably [...]
Dear White Men: the most beautiful invitation
My friend Shelley Frost wrote this as her status on Facebook today and i couldn't not sure because it is such a gracefully written invitation to men to seize the opportunity to be a part [...]
From the Bottom Up
When i say "Cape Flats", you say "Violence!" "Cape Flats!" "VIOLENCE!!" "Cape Flats!" "VIOLENCE!!" Because, along with Nazareth and townships and maybe even Africa as a whole, that is the kind of mindset that too [...]
Ask the questions
This past week i was contacted by a Facebook friend who told me he had been following me since my Truth mag days [an amazing magazine i used to write for]. Which was a long, [...]
Give the change you want to see…
About a week ago i was hanging out with a group of friends discussing some quite incredible stories of generosity that we had all been involved in this past year. Each person in the group [...]
“Your very presence is violent!”
Words i heard last night. Not the kind of thing that feels great coming from someone who has a history of giving you a hard time or trolling you on social media, but something you [...]
the accident of my skin
i have so-called white skin. i don't hate my skin colour. i hate that it has been elevated above the skin colours of so many other people. i hate that some people see themselves as [...]
How Jesus followers might want to think about reparation
i wonder if there might be something South Africa could learn from the story of Zacchaeus in the Bible. As a much-hated tax collector known for robbing and cheating the people he has an encounter [...]
Blessed are those who clamp down on appropriation…
...for they will have to wear their own hand-made crap. Or something. This whole appropriation thing is quite confusing to me and feels a little dangerous with the chief danger being hypocrisy. It feels like [...]
We have a good ways to go
Last week on the hockey field, a masters player [meaning over 35 years old although this guy was easily 50] called me a Fucking Imbecile after an incident between us. Later, after i had had [...]
Let my people go…
Who are your 'my people'? i was watching a typical exchange about some race issue on the book of face-offs yesterday when something struck me... The man commenting - who happened to be an afrikaner - [...]