Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies’ Post

Let's state it as it is. The purpose of the DA is to support the interests of the white minority NOT all South Africans. The DA is unwilling to address the land issue. The DA refutes claims of significant disparity between white (privileged) and Black (dispossessed) people forgetting that white privilege has been established through the seizure, utilisation and extraction of black wealth and labour. Black people were killed. The land was forcefully taken from its rightful owners. To exacerbate, the DA prioritises profits instead of people. We seem to forget easily. In previous instances, they have displayed racial insensitivity and caused division. We cannot overlook the incident in Phoenix when the Democratic Alliance praised the racists who killed Black people as heroes. Do not overlook the Member of Parliament's utterances that Black people are not skilled in critical thinking. White supremacy is inherent in liberalism. The DA's opposition to the issue of land expropriation without compensation speaks volumes about its biases and beliefs. I listen to conversations about the Government of National Unit. I hear some analysts saying it will succeed due to the presence of the DA, further supporting the claim made by the MP that Black people need white people to lead and govern. The assertion that Black people are incapable of forming independent thoughts and government is utter nonsense. Lastly, tell me, what is the position of the DA in the Ukraine-Russia conflict? What is the DA's stance on the Palestine-Israel war? This is telling of the devil we are dealing with. South Africans must wake up and smell the coffee.

The abolition of slavery in Brazil on 13 May 1888 is commonly taken for granted as the legal act that ended the system. The 'Lei Áurea', a law passed by the Portuguese royal family, is accepted as the legal mechanism that ended almost four hundred years of slavery in Brazil (1501-1888) and freed all enslaved Afrixans in the country. No reparation measures, compensation or public policies were put in place, only an alleged ‘freedom’ and formal equity granted by law. The same people that benefited from the system during centuries of colonial exploitation designed the law and its legal framework. Today, 136 years after the ‘Golden Law’ (Lei Áurea), Brazilian society still suffers the consequences of slavery imposed by the Europeans. But it is very naïve to think that the black African women and men brought to Brazil survived passively all the atrocities and exploitation they were subjected to for the profit for European farmers and merchants. Resistance has always been used as a weapon to survive the plight of being black in a slave land being submitted to various forms of violence that blacks still face daily in Brazil - resisting is the only effective mechanism to fight against the long-term process of having Black lives objectified. We resist the idea that the abolishment of slavery on 13 May 1888 represented any advance in the way the black community is treated in the country. Formal equity declared in official documents is important, but we need more than words on papers to face the social chaos rooted in a society based on racist ideologies. The system imposed remains untouched and millions of Black lives are still neglected and attacked throughout the country. Resisting in this case means not accepting the 13 May as a commemorative date, but a date that reminds us of our daily struggle against a system set up to deny our existence as human beings. We want to stress that Black people resisted and still resist the project of genocide established five hundred years ago that still persists today. Image: Carlos Latuff #blacklivesmatter #endslavery #stopblackgenocideinbrazil #brazilmatters

In a recent post, I wrote, "Regardless of who wins, the struggle continues..." While we were hopeful for a victory—and all that might represent in terms of possibility, shattering of glass ceilings, and a hope for an America ready to move forward—reality offers a sobering reminder. Many Americans yearn for a return to a past where their power and privilege were enshrined as the social norm, where identities were rigidly defined and policed by tradition, regardless of the harm inflicted or the limits imposed on individual liberty and potential. So long as their identity holds a privileged status and there is little motivation to embrace true equity. So, what do we do next? In large part, we must do what we should have always been doing. We must value our history and culture—learned by us, taught by us, celebrated by us, and passed down from us to future generations (African-centered rites of passage). We must be the heroes of our own stories and the authors of our own narratives. Our authentic selves must be recognized and celebrated as the foundation upon which future generations can build authentically their own lives, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Consider these resources: Coalition for African-Centered Rites of Passage - https://lnkd.in/gEgJctTm Black Child and SEL - https://lnkd.in/gsQb89Rs

Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the U.S. As it was in June 19, 1865, when the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas ended of the American Civil War. Although this date commemorates enslaved people learning of their freedom under the Emancipation Proclamation, this only applied to former Confederate states. There remained legally enslaved people in states that never seceded from the Union. These people did not gain their freedom until the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 6, 1865. Today we remind all that the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1865, which abolished slavery throughout the U.S. and ended involuntary servitude EXCEPT as a punishment for conviction of a crime. Slavery has been perpetuated since the end of the American Civil War through criminalizing behavior and enabling police to arrest poor freedmen and force them to work for the state under convict leasing; suppression of African Americans by disenfranchisement, lynchings, and Jim Crow; politicians declaring a war on drugs that weighs more heavily on minority communities and, by the late 20th century, mass incarceration affecting communities of color, especially American descendants of slavery, in the U.S. The question remains what is Juneteenth to an incarcerated Black person? ... please share and repost! #Recovery #Reentry #Juneteenth

Sunday Reflections Where do I start? It’s 2024 and racism in Britain still exists. This post isn’t about politics. This post is about acknowledgment. It’s about solidarity. It’s about not staying quiet - burying our heads in the sand and not having a voice. The recent and most disgraceful incident of the first black female MP Diane Abbott who stood 46 times to have her say in Parliament is an example of the racism that still exists in today’s society. Please be mindful when we say that racism doesn’t exist; it does. Sexism exists. Discrimination exists. And at times it’s often by those who are in the most senior positions of authority who should be leading the way but instead sit on their thrones making derogatory statements, unfairly asserting their position of privilege and authority; discriminating against the marginalised and vulnerable. So what can we do? We can stand up when we see these injustices. We can speak out and challenge others of their wrongdoing. And speak up…again and again and again. And black people, I know it’s tiring, I too am tired but my father (a Nigerian born, black British man) who sadly passed away in 2021 prepared me for this world for which I am eternally grateful. He came to this country to better himself, lived in Ms Abbotts constituency of Hackney where I was born and worked tirelessly to secure management positions in the council. He never let me forget about the challenges and each story was a valuable lesson and teaching. So like my father did for me and my siblings, I do this for my daughter, for my son, and for the generation who are coming up behind us. It’s only when we stick together can we begin to make a change. Rebecca ✊🏾 #thecoachingcatalysts #racisminbritain #westandforwomen #westandforblackwomen #empowerment #standupspeakupspeakout @officialhackneyabbot

The GNU is already teetering, and with it the hopes that black and white South Africans can work together in politics to build a winning nation (or, at least not a losing one). Unsurprisingly (and rather conveniently for the perpetual revolutionaries) "scandals" are emerging of "racist" actions by DA members. Race is the great taboo of our times. It started in the US, where from the 1960s African Americans became a sacred cause for liberals (many of whom were in need of a sacred cause). In the US and Europe the idea that black people must be made into a sacred cause is justified as the need for protection from the abuses of a dominant, majority white population. South Africa used to fit this same narrative, for although whites were in the minority they were politically dominant. Today, white people are not only a small minority (around 7%), we have lost political power, and since 1994 our representation at the top table of national government has dwindled to near zero. The GNU would change that, giving the white minority a sense of comfort that people in government "get" them, and care about their concerns. The same is true for many Indians and coloureds. Whites are not asking to have their supremacy back (which is anyway an impossibility), but only that some people in the highest echelons of government viscerally share our fears and hopes. If the GNU fails, and if the ANC sides with the EFF or MK, then I consider myself to be like a Ukrainian living in the Donbas under an illegitimate and antagonistic force...one that openly calls for death to whites, and is cheered on by tens of thousands in doing so.

Today, The Times of Israel published my op-ed titled “Why Young American Jews Are Choosing The GOP.” In my piece, I discuss how many young American Jews like myself feel abandoned by the Democratic party and explain why our loyalty has switched to the Republican party. You can read the article at this link:

Let’s talk racial gaslighting, from a ‘spooky’ perspective. Yes, I know Halloween was on October 31st, but with the current state of the world and political climate, it can feel like a never ending horror story. So it feels right to me to keep the spooky vibes going with haunted house scenarios. - A haunted house...but it's filled with diverse representation of leaders who endorse policies and practices that uphold systemic racism and harm racialised communities. - A haunted house…but it's a loop of being told Britain is a tolerant society. - A haunted house...but it's filled with 'devil's advocate' questions aimed at undermining and challenging experiences of racism. - A haunted house…but it's still seeing the first Black person in any role...in 2024! And a personal one for me… - A haunted house...but it's the name Kemi haunting me since the announcement of the new Tory leader!😒 The list could go on, what did I miss? Share your racial gaslighting scenarios. #racismisreal #antiracism #racialjustice #hauntedhouse #racialmicroaggressions #racialawareness #ukpolitics #kemibadenoch

An important read by Kyrah Malika Daniels. Just some bits, but please read the full article on perpetuated historical racisms born from Haiti's freedom 'as threat' to white supremacy, and more specifically its relationship to Vodou. "Let’s be clear: this is no ordinary anti-Blackness. It’s compounded anti-Blackness. Through innuendo, the mischaracterization of Vodou as America’s favorite racial slur, “voodoo,” reinforces stereotypic narratives of Black criminality and related efforts to exclude Blacks from authentic American citizenship. The upcoming presidential election makes Springfield’s new community of Haitian immigrants the perfect target for the Trump-Vance ticket’s rehearsed political strategies of Black disenfranchisement and “religious racism.” In fact, the anti-Haitianism exhibited here has deep roots in the history of White supremacist electoral politics in America and is often implicitly connected to Haitian Vodou." "Haitians’ revolutionary war for independence from the repressive French colonial regime between 1791-1804—a war fought by enslaved Africans, escaped maroons, and free people of color—incited colossal fear in the hearts of White plantation owners (and non-land-owners) across the Americas.  This was largely due to religious racism and the fear of Black self-emancipation. On August 14, 1791, a Pan-African congress and Vodou ceremony was held in Bwa Kayiman, Haiti to establish political solidarity and elicit support from the ancestors and spirits in the struggle for freedom. This liberatory Vodou ceremony has been referred to by Pat Robertson as a “pact with the devil,”which he outrageously blamed for the nation’s 7.0 magnitude earthquake of 2010. The only successful slave revolt in the Western hemisphere produced a proud Black republic—the first in the West to abolish slavery at its founding—and yet, for Haiti “freedom came at a price,” an unimaginable one at that." https://lnkd.in/esCeDHU8

Juneteenth, also known as #FreedomDay, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. This day serves as a powerful reminder of the struggle for freedom and the ongoing importance of inclusion and equality. We stand in solidarity with the Black community and are committed to continuous learning, understanding, and taking positive action. Learn more about #Juneteenth’s rich history, from its origins in 1865 to its recognition as a federal holiday in 2021: https://hubs.ly/Q02Cp1yL0