Sho. Racists? i just don't understand you. Except that it HAS to be othering. That's all i can think of. The cure for racism then has to be connection... That was a thought that came to mind as Val and myself sat on the pavement just off De Waal drive last night, about 100m from our house, watching the incredible festivities that were a part of an African wedding reception taking place across the street.How [...]
The other day i tried my hand at a kind of spoken word piece with the title, 'i don't hate my skin' which you can watch over here. But i thought some of you might appreciate having a closer look at the words and here they are. i don't hate my skin - by brett "Fish" anderson I don’t hate my skin. The thought seems quite ridiculous. How could I possibly hate something [...]
By now you have probably heard about the Roseanne Barr racist tweet and cancelling of her show incident. i have maybe watched Roseanne the show once in my whole life and it didn't do enough to get me back. So i don't really know Roseanne Barr much besides glimpses of her on interview shows and random celebrity news from time to time. But this post isn't really about her. In a nutshell, Roseanne posted a [...]
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 a drink with my team and was walking to my car he came up to me and said something along the lines of, "I apologise for losing my temper!" i kinda half shrugged it off with a "Sure, buddy, whatever" [...]
What is one thing that you don't understand? For me there are many. One of them is how a plane flies. That's where my faith kicks in cos i can easily learn the facts surrounding flight, but i've seen and experienced it to work and so i believe that those who need to know how it works, know how it works. It still astounds me every time that we are in this giant metal [...]
Let me start with a little spoiler alert - the answer to becoming a real man is not going to have anything to do with punching sharks. Or knifing them. A couple of days ago i compiled this post with a number of suggestions for us men in terms of treating women better. It was spread around a lot and sparked a whole lot of conversation which was really great to watch and be a [...]
Two short pieces on racism that you might find very helpful: THREE LEVELS OF RACISM My friend Matt Talley, who i met in Americaland but who is currently living and working with his family in Spain, sent me this from a class he is doing. It's super simple but I don't think I had heard the three levels labeled this way before. Of course I've heard the labels of personal racism and institutional/structural racism. But [...]
i remember it like it was just last night. But mostly because it WAS just last night. This is the status i wrote minutes after it happened: Holy craps. After months of #NotOnOurWatch preaching I had my first real experience of it - old motorcycle guy in a car park going off at a car guard and I marched in and let him have it. So much adrenalin. Body shaking. I had the advantage of [...]
This has been on my mind for a while and feels like a very delicate subject to broach, although a necessary one. For the last two to five years i have been on a personal journey of understanding the causes and effects of apartheid a lot more, as well as the negative consequences that continue to effect a lot of people. Let me put this up front: i have a long way to go... but [...]
...is possibly one of the most untruthful sentences we can utter. In fact the word "but" following the phrase "I'm not racist" is pretty much always a strong indicator that the very next thing said is going to reek of racism. This post is in response to the status that Matthew Theunissen posted on Facebook the other day in response to the announcement by Fikile Mbalula's ban on South African sports associations hosting major international events. [...]
