*If I had a mic and all of SA was listening what would I say for 2015. My hope, my dream for this beautiful nation is that people would step out of their comfort zones amd embrace other people. I know this is not easy. My dream is that young people would embrace older people, straight people would embrace gay and transgendered people, people of different racial hues would also embrace each other and share [...]
One of the interesting ideas that has come up both in Americaland [with the whole #Ferguson ordeal and everything connected to that and the #BlackLivesMatter movement] and in South Africa is that black people can't be racist. i have always argued that the hypothesis is ridiculous and given my understanding of racism, anyone can be racist against another person. However, by taking time to listen to people on both sides, as far as i understand [...]
Mamelani. Listen Up. Kom ons Luister… all of us. If I had the mic for just a moment, and the audience was a country that I am yearning to see at peace and functional and prosperous – what would I want to say? In just 3 – 5 points? This should be so easy and yet the noise in my head has made this complex. This is my start actually. There is too much noise. [...]
a guest post by my friend Sindile Mlingo Vabaza responding to a much made comment on this blog recently about people in poverty, although typically been aimed at black people, having too many babies as one of the main factors of their continued impoverishment: There are a lot of people out there who are putting up 'family planning' as the solution to certain societal ills in the country. I want to assert that this is [...]
Hi, my name is Rebecca Benn, I am a 20 year old (proudly South African) history student studying at UKZN and if there was only one thing I could ask all my fellow South Africans to do this year it would be to live out and seek out joy. The word joy is defined as: a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. Now I would like you to think about SA, think if you can on how you [...]
The first paragraph that stood out for me strongly in this book about Robert Sobukwe and resonated completely, was this one which spoke into my validification as an African [or as my mate, Nkosi, would put it, "Afrikan"]. From Chapter 13 of 'Robert Sobuke: How Can Man Die Better' by Benjamin Pogrund: 'And on his attitude to whites he spoke with passion: "I know I have been accused of being anti-white, not only by the [...]
Hi, my name is Avuyile Tu, I hail from Khayelitsha, originally from the Eastern Cape from a small town called Lady Frere. I studied a B Com degree from the University of the Western Cape, majored in Economics and management. Currently I am employed as an assistant finance manager here in Cape Town. I am the first born son at home; I am a Christian, passionate about Christ and serving my people. I write poetry [...]
One of the ways i am trying to prepare myself to be a part of a better conversation in South Africa in terms of race, reconciliation and unity is by learning some of the country's history... ...from different voices than i grew up with. To that effect, after my weekend at Robben Island, i got hold of a copy of Benjamin Pogrund's book titled, 'Robert Sobukwe: How Can Man Die Better' and just finished reading [...]
You know, the whole, 'Before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes' thing? Following on from the post and conversation relating to inequality at the moment still being a race thing in South Africa, what might be a helpful activity is to take a look at how you understand the other person's argument. Are you able to jump into the comments and comment from the point of view of the person on the [...]
So, the other day i tried to take a few steps back in this ongoing Race and Reconciliation conversation we've been having over here with this post trying to see if we could all agree that the incredibly out-of-proportion extreme gap between rich and poor in our country [and the world at large] is not okay. Most people stayed away from engaging at all [maybe it's cos of the busy time of the year, but [...]