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 [...]
As i reflect back on what has been the most bizarre year for the world in my lifetime, one person's name pops up a lot more than most: Megan Furniss Choritz. We have been friends since 1999 - well, that's the year we met and i stepped into her Improv world and so friends probably happened a year or two later. Especially as one of my final moves before leaving for an 18-month journey [...]
i have just started reading - and almost finished - Austin Channing Brown's 'I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a world made for whiteness'. i highly recommend it. While 'White Fragility: Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism' by Robin DiAngelo was super helpful hearing ideas, challenges and analogies from a white woman, so 'I'm Still Here' has been profoundly challenging and helpful, hearing the story from the perspective of [...]
What are you doing Friday night? Going to a workshop that interrogates whiteness. Wait, what? And I am paying for it. Those words might seem like they come out of an SNL sketch if South Africa had an SNL type show. But we don't. And it was the brave decision of eight white people to respond to an invitation that my friend and colleague Megan Furniss put out on Facebook: I am Megan Furniss, a [...]
White people asking the question, 'But what can I do?' when it comes to race and transformation. It has been super exciting to see how much dialogue and engagement has been happening around these tips. If you have not yet read the first five which started this series or the next five then click on those first and bring yourself up to speed. But this post is going to be bringing you the next five tips [...]
I am whiteness I will not condescend to your infuriating attempts to single me out as the single biggest cause of all your problems I am whiteness You had better believe that everything I have is due to hard work and persistence After all, the silver spoon in my mouth that I was born with had ugly flecks of bronze all over its handle Who in their right mind would be satisfied with that? [...]
Words i heard last night. Not the kind of thing that feels great coming from someone who has a history of giving you a hard time or trolling you on social media, but something you learn to get over quickly and pull out the thick skin for. "Your very presence is violent." But what if it comes from one of your best friends? And what if you suspect they might be right? [Disclaimer: Now i imagine [...]
The other day i started a series looking at the concept or idea of 'The better coloured/black/indian'. i am still hoping to share a few more stories on it as they come in, but i think it has already been useful in helping some white people to become aware of its existence and hopefully get some more helpful conversations and actions going. As a white person it is important to note that while i don't [...]
i asked me friend Terence if he would share some thoughts about the concept of 'The Better Coloured' and he came up with these: “Yeah, but you’re one of the good ones” My friend and I were standing under a tree trying to escape the summer heat during break-time. He had been talking about those “gangsters” and “kak okes” of the school – the Coloureds. Luckily for me, I, with my meekness and my white [...]
i first heard the term 'the better black' from a friend of mine who i am hoping will share a bit of her story for this series at some stage. It was shared in the context of her being part of a church congregation that looked very diverse on the outside but where she felt pressure to look and behave in ways acceptable to white people so as to fit in. Phrases like; "You speak [...]
