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 'better than' simply based on the accident of their skin colour. When i talk about defeating whiteness that is what i mean. It is not at all about hating the skin i, or people who look like me, have or [...]
What do the spaces you inhabit say about you? On Saturday i shared an invitation with my white friends on Facebook: White friends. Do this experiment. Be aware of the spaces you occupy today. And tomorrow. Then take a moment to reflect Sunday night. How many of those spaces (gym, dinner table, sports club, restaurant, church, coffee hangout) were 100% filled with white people? (except those who were serving you/cleaning up) How many of those [...]
Do white women wake up to racial disparity and the need for personal change and movement and a different way of thinking quicker than men? i published this piece yesterday repeating a friend's question as to why there seem to be more woke women than men when it comes to racial matters. There was some incredible conversation that happened in response to my Facebook status which was this: Black friend made a comment on another [...]
Dear South Africa... This is an interesting one. i was sent this story and asked if i could share it anonymously. And only realised when i copied it in here that it was a two-parter [i had initially missed the second part]. Which adds a whole different layer to the first part of the story and i imagine different people will have different reactions to it. But at the same time it gives a glimpse [...]
The last book i read was the incredible Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie which i shared some thoughts about over here, but there were a couple more passages that really stood out to me when i read the book and so here they are. This first extract is another blog post by the main character, Ifemelu: What Academics Mean by White Privilege, or Yes It Sucks to Be Poor and White but Try Being Poor [...]
This is a post for all those of you who have seen the original H & M advert of the little black boy wearing the hoodie with the slogan 'Coolest Monkey in the Jungle' on it. He was pictured next to a white boy who had the slogan 'Survival Expert' on his hoodie. Because it seems like this is still being discussed, and because a whole lot of white people seem not to understand why [...]
Can't we all just be a little more kind to people online? And maybe offline too..? i would say, "Yes, absolutely!" But also, "No!" Well, i mean kinda, but probably not in the way you understand Kindness. Because often when somebody posts an inspirational or challenging message like this, what they are actually wanting people to be is nice. And it isn't super helpful to confuse Kind with Nice. Exhibit A Your three-year-old kid is [...]
What is this race thing all about? The other night a bunch of us went to go and listen to Alan Storey from the Central Methodist Mission in town share some of his thoughts as an Introduction to Privilege and Racism. Alan's dad Peter Story was at one-time chaplain to Nelson Mandela and others on Robben Island, at the request of Mandela. But Alan has continued the legacy of speaking truth and justice to power, [...]
i just started reading 'Between the World and Me' by Ta-Nehisi Coates, which has been on my to-read pile for a while now. It is written in the form of a series of letters between him and his son and speaks into race in America and beyond. This is another book well worth reading, especially as someone trying to understand more the race dynamics of our day and age. This extract jumped out at me: [...]
So last night was the annual Outliers event and it was incredible - six speakers, six talks, ten minutes each, with ten slides accompanying them. With my wife tbV kicking it off and setting the foundation and then just amazing speaker after amazing speaker knocking it out of the park. The edited videos will be up in a while, but i think some of the talks are already available on their Facebook page over here. [...]
