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 [...]
In spaces of social justice and activism there is often a call for greater kindness. Which i absolutely agree with. But for who? 'Be Kind, but with Spine!' Wow! That is a powerful quote i read today [which may or may not be by Karen Salmansohn, hard to determine] and it sums up quite well what i wanted to write about. i believe deeply in being kind. In the scary and often brutal world we [...]
A reflection from our time spent in the Philippines regarding traffic... My wife tbV [the beautiful Val] and i have just returned from a two-month trip to the Philippines which was pretty amazing. If you're interested in how that came about, you can read some of the story over here. i am hoping, however, to share a few thoughts and reflections from our time there and hopefully in not-too-long pieces that are easy to [...]
i received an email from a friend of mine on Facebook who is asking some questions that relate quite strongly to some stuff i have been giving a lot of thought to, especially this last week. i think it's a bit of a minefield, to be honest. But i also think it's high time we stepped into this one: Morning 😊 I've been thinking about ANGER and VIOLENCE. I think that so many people dismiss [...]
Continuing my journey through Frantz Fanon's 'The Wretched of the Earth' and i came upon this passage. Some of this is a little scary. Some of it is helpful and inspirational. But i think it is all so important for us to read and take on and understand, that even if some of the bits on violence do not feel palatable to us, there are completely being welcomed by a number of other people who [...]
i get it, South Africa is in a bit of a mess right now, and that statement is a bit of an understatement. And yes, xenophobia might not be the correct word, but it's the one most people understand and so it does seem to work for now so please don't let us get distracted by that. With this whole Xenophobia vibe, there are two truths: [1] One truth is violence, fear, destruction, hate [2] Another [...]
i used to receive me daily Pearls before Swine deliver to my mailbox, but recently this stopped happening for some reason... so now when i remember i dive into the site and do a little catching up [although this also bodes well for me when i order my next Pearls Before Swine annual because there will be ones i have not seen] and these two floated to the top when i did: Sometimes Stephan works [...]
last nite i was invited by some new friends we've made here to join the Oakland City Watch team in a walk they do around the neighborhood [we live on 61st Ave and we walked around the streets closer to 90th so not crazy far away] that has three messages for the people of the community: # We care! # We want to see an end to violence, especially gun violence! # How can we [...]
let me be honest, i am tired of all the Oscar Pistorius 'stuff' - i am tired of it and i wish it would go away. i am also deeply disturbed by it. i don't know that i completely understand why, altho i know it has something to do with the fact that it feels like almost everyone has an opinion, many people have made judgements, many others are just sending links and updates and [...]
if you have never watched or heard of a Brad Fish 'Dangerous Things You Can Least Expect' video then where have you been? Brad Fish is an alternative persona of Brett Fish [heeeeeey!?!] who runs a You Tube show in which he gives wise wisdom [is there any other kind?] in terms of friendly warning to prepare people from things they might have thought of as being innocent and dangerless but which in fact turn [...]
