Would you say you have a group of diverse friends? Two days ago, i shared a thread on the Twitterer that kinda exploded a little bit [in a good way!] With over 400 retweets and a whole lot of [mostly] positive engagement, it really felt like people were resonating with what was being said. So i decided to move it to a blog post as means of getting it in front of more eyes and [...]
i was recently introduced to Josh Cox and his website called The Racial Literacy Project and asked him if he would mind sharing some of his story, Meet Joshua Cox: The Racial Literacy Project Last year I launched a simple website www.racialliteracy.co.za with the aim of helping white people 'do the work' of becoming more literate on issues of race and racism. The end goal being that people are more equipped to speak out on these [...]
Anti-racism work with friends beats anti-racism work by yourself. Since returning from America with the absolute determination to confront my own racism and try to make a difference in South Africa this work really has been a key factor in my life. And Megan Choritz has been one of my friends who has helped really shape my thinking and understanding and doing. Part of that makes a lot of sense as she has been [...]
I don't see race, but I feel it Crawling down my skin As the glance declares I'm sin I don't see race, but I fear it Coming for me in the middle of the night Armed with the sharp unforgiving Edges of the questions aimed at me Asking how I managed to keep my Head buried in the sand for so long While those on the surface Were the ones suffocating for lack of [...]
The appearance of diversity means close to nothing if the voices at the mic, those making the decisions and the hands at the money bag continue to be white. i have just seen another Conference line-up for a national denominational conference in South Africa in 2020 where out of five speakers, one of them is black and i believe he is the only one from South Africa. In a country where white people make [...]
A black man and a white man Step into a room together And ever so carefully Peel off their skin Folding it neatly Over the back of a chair Before taking a seat Directly across the table from one other Staring deeply into the other's soul A blood sample is taken from both men Two vials of the deepest red Placed on the table in front of them Followed shortly by a set of [...]
Is white guilt a thing and should we have more of it? The third part of my Blogger's Block series prompt came courtesy of a Twitterer friend, Keri Stroebel who asked this: Why do so many white people attack other white people who are trying to be anti-racist? Why use the terms "white saviour", or accuse you having "white guilt" or even straight up call you a traitor to your race? i invited her [...]
i finally finished reading the Voices of Liberation series book on Steve Biko by Derek Hook. And i can highly recommend it. i honestly believe that if you are a South African [especially if you are white] then you really need to read 'How can man die better?' [by Benjamin Pogrund] which is the story of Robert Sobukwe, and either one of 'I write what I like' or this version of Biko's writings and [...]
It is hard to be a South African sometimes. As a white South African, i sit with the heavy injustices of colonialism and apartheid in my rear view mirror all the time. As a black, coloured or indian South African, they live in the consequences of colonialism and apartheid as well as a worldwide uplifting of whiteness to the detriment of everything else. As a male, we sit with a horrific pandemic of violence [...]
Val and i just celebrated our 11th year anniversary with a few days away in Citrusdal. i went with great intention of spending some time getting back into poetry. Armed with my pend and my journal. Sadly, the two pens i picked were not quite equal to the intention and i managed to barely scratch out these two short ones before they both gave up the ghost. D - droplets lie in wait [...]
