COVID-19 Is a Disrupter and Barrier Breaker

COVID-19 is a disrupter and a barrier breaker. It doesn’t have respect for race, cultures, beliefs, or politics. Everyone in this world had to transition from a busy life to a very slow-paced life. Have you ever watched a movie and just when you thought you knew what was going to happen next, were caught off guard? That’s what COVID-19 is like. No one understands it or can predict its behaviour. There’s no blueprint, user manual, or syllabus on how to handle this virus.

Our president and leaders of the world are treading in uncharted territory. Please, have empathy. Put yourself in their position and you’ll soon encounter the same criticism you are dishing out now.

We each have a choice in how we respond. We can be humane regardless of circumstances or judge unfairly. Rather show maturity and empathy for what others are facing, and going through. Let’s all adhere to the lockdown regulations. We are all in this together.

#COVID19

#CoronavirusPandemic

The Dream of a Schoolboy

When I was in grade nine (1983), our career guidance teacher asked us to share what careers we wanted to pursue. Everyone was excited and shared dreams of becoming a doctor, teacher, entrepreneur, etc. When it was my turn, I shared my dream of becoming a writer, the teacher laughed, followed by the rest of the class. I was shocked that a teacher would react like that. My teacher reminded me that we were living in apartheid, South Africa. He said Coloureds don’t become writers easily because the doors to publishing is shut for people of colour. He said I would make a good clerk or teacher. At that moment I knew I wanted to be a writer, and that nothing and nobody was going to assassinate my dream. 

Walking home that day, I told myself that just because I’ve experienced resistance didn’t mean I had to give up. I knew I had something in me that was worth pursuing. Somehow I knew that the colour of my skin couldn’t keep me from reaching my dreams and aspirations. I think one of the best things about being a kid, is that there is no dream that’s too big. The journey thereafter wasn’t moonlight and roses; it was hard work. Today I am a published writer and freelance journalist. One of my stories about the #FeesMustFall protests was featured on CNN.

A few years ago, I bumped into one of my classmates who laughed along with the teacher. He told me that he enjoyed my newspaper column, and made sure he bought it every Friday. He then apologised for laughing at my dream that day. I told him that I’ve turned that laughter into inspiration that same day as I walked home. He smiled and shook my hand for almost a minute. He asked me if I had anything motivational to share with his child who was experiencing challenges with his learning at school. I told him to share my story with his son.

Today, his son is an executive manager for a large national company in Durban. Please share this with someone who’s experiencing challenges, or is in need of some motivation.

Poem: the street has your name

the street has your name

breaking news - for immediate release:

8 bullets for Breonna in bed

3 minutes, unarmed & bullets in Brown’s body

8 minutes & 46 seconds, unarmed & a knee in Floyd’s neck

that’s what you get if you’re a nobody

just a black from the neck of the hoods

in the land of the brave (!) & the home of the free (?)

are you in bed, at a convenience store, at work?

hell no, the cops are waiting, waiting, they’re waiting

with bullets & chokeholds “so innocent & so perfect” (wtf!)

it’s going to be in history’s books

because when the looting starts, the shooting starts…

Arbery

       Brown

                 Crutcher

                             Garner

                                       Grant

                                               Gray

                                                     Jean

                                                           Jefferson

                                                                        Jones

                                                                                Martin

                                                                                        McDonald

                                                                                                      Rice

                                                                                                            Taylor

                                 White…

that’s what you get if you’re a nobody just a

black from the neck of the hoods

in the land of the brave (!) & the home of the free (?)

… but here the street has your name

the street will speak your name

because black lives matter…

© 2020 Selwyn Milborrow

A Virus Called Racism

The protests in the United States that reached into every corner of America, are not only about police brutality or justice; it’s about a fight to dismantle and ultimately destroy racism in all its disguises. The protests evoked memories of my childhood years during the most turbulent period of the fight against apartheid. Growing up with a fear that the colour of my skin could be used against me at any moment, was something I had no choice but to accept. In 1985 the apartheid government declared a state of emergency that gave the police unlimited powers in its crackdown on blacks or anyone resisting apartheid. This made it illegal for more than ten blacks to gather in one place at any given time. Isn’t it ironic that social distancing regulations like during the COVID-19 pandemic were already a thing back then? The sight of a yellow police van filled me with paralysing fear every time it passed me on my way to school, or to the shop. Some of my classmates disappeared under mysterious circumstances during the night. I’ve witnessed with horror how people in despair were pushed to the edge. The images of violence and inhumanity against blacks during the state of emergency in the 1980s will forever be etched in my mind. We have defeated apartheid by 1994, but what I didn’t know then, was that racism went underground.

Fifty-five years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.” That dream came true, but he didn’t live to witness it. However, he knew that racism is a virus that could be detected, but in most cases remain undetected in the hearts and minds of racists. In South Africa, we have witnessed a rainbow nation being birthed, but little did we know about the wicked power of racism to hide in plain sight. We saw it in the case against Penny Sparrow, the first person to be found guilty of crimen injuria for a racist slur on social media in post-apartheid South Africa. There are thousands of similar stories currently happening in the workplace.

In the United States, thanks to video recording technology, the power of racism to hide undetected, finally failed when a video surfaced on social media of a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, an African American man until he died. It led to protests in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, a day after Floyd was killed during the police arrest. Not even Floyd’s cry for his mother, or the words, “I can’t breathe” could stop the police officer from kneeling on him until he took his last breath. Let’s be honest, if people saw a video on Facebook or Twitter of a man digging his knee into the neck of a dog until it died, they would be utterly horrified. They would almost certainly click, comment, and call for the man’s immediate arrest. If that upsets people more than a white cop killing a black man, then they are not part of the vaccine we so desperately need, but part of the deadly racist virus. In South Africa, the oppression and killing of thousands of black people in the name of apartheid also drew the attention of the world, but sadly, we were left to fight and defeat the beast mostly on our own.

We as Blacks were born into a history of exhaustion based on the oppression that started with colonialism centuries ago. Our parents, grandparents and great grandparents carried those memories with them; it’s imprinted in our DNA. We are not dealing with a lack of emotional intelligence, but with the everyday behaviours, perceptions, perspectives, and assumptions of some white people who claim an unawareness that a race problem exists. These few whites - who have never experienced racism - claim that they don’t see colour and that “all lives matter”. In order to feel good, they engage in a blatant denial of what’s going on around them. My message to them is to stop hiding behind institutionalised racism. What's happening today is so much more than just saying, “I don’t see colour”. It’s about acknowledging that there’s a problem. For them to say that all lives matter during protests against racism, not only calls for serious introspection but ultimately for an immediate dismantling of racist mindsets. It calls for the destruction of systems rigged in such a way to marginalise and oppress black people. It calls for recognition that systemic racism is alive in the workplace, at school, at university, and in the church. In an interview with Stephen Colbert, the American television host, Jon Stewart said that the biggest obstacle to change has always been the inability of white Americans to understand that it is not just about ending segregation but dismantling the barriers. He said that while black people fought for equality for decades, the white people were building equity. The disparity between a lack of equality and a rise in equity just exacerbated the situation. Stewart said that equality can only come, once the black community gain access to the equity that was taken away from them.

In response to the protests, Jon Stewart said that because the death of George Floyd happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, it allowed most Americans a moment of clarity. In a moment of quiet reflection, America suddenly stopped and smelled the racism. Former US president, Barack Obama, wrote in an essay that, “if we want to bring about real change, then the choice isn’t between protest and politics. We have to do both.” The same goes for us as South Africans where institutional racism and something as unthinkable as service delivery protests, are choking us. First, let’s raise awareness, then vote with our conscience. It won’t bring about sudden change because as a species we have become disconnected from each other and from ourselves long ago. However, there’s an urgency to find unity in our diversity. Nelson Mandela said, “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” I conclude with the words of the philosopher, Socrates that sounds more like a call to action for all of us: “An unexamined life is not worth living”.

This Much I Know: About Racism (R.I.P. George Floyd)

This much I know about racism:

I was a teenager during the apartheid uprisings. I’ve witnessed my people being pushed to the edge. Now, I don’t pretend to be perfect, or say everything perfectly. However, if seeing people looting shops and burning buildings upset you more than a white cop killing a black man, then you’re not part of the solution; you're part of the problem. Protesting doesn’t damage the cause because I was part of the school boycotts in the 1980s, and we beat the monster called apartheid. Listen, institutional racism is very much alive in the workplace, sport, entertainment and politics. I do however agree with Barack Obama that “if we want to bring about real change, then the choice isn’t between protest and politics. We have to do both.” First, let’s raise awareness, then vote with our conscience. Like Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living”.

knee to the neck – Bevan Boggenpoel

(in memory of George Floyd) 

he used his knee to his neck

holding George down

while his lacklustre colleagues

stood dutifully by

watching a black man 

pleading to be released

but they couldn't care less 

he’s now deceased

they killed a man 

as if he’s a slave 

sending him 

to an early grave 

he begged and pleaded 

“I can’t breathe”

but the racist persisted 

while he only saw their feet

when they're supposed to

serve and protect

they'd rather kill

with utter neglect

black lives matter 

that's a fact

but police brutality

is the violent act

justice for George

must be served 

a life behind bars

is what they deserve 

cities in unity

gather around

as another black man 

goes underground 

for too long 

this has been going on

no longer must black civilians

be trampled upon

by careless officers 

and just get away

thinking they can just

shoot and slay

thunder roars

as voices demand 

justice for George 

a man unarmed! 

©️ 05/06/2020 Bevan Boggenpoel