Privilege cannot be undone

But it can be re-imaginedRepurposedRedirected to someplace higherThan selfish ambitionAnd self-preservation.Privilege is much moreThan a set of advantages,Or immunity from strugglesThat cripple others-It is a posture,A frame of mindThat keeps an individual from flinchingIn the face of authorityAnd gives respite from the disturbing calmnessOf accepting the unacceptable.Privilege, you see,Is persistent and multifacetedIt refuses to be […]

Unbuckling whiteness

Is tricky business.Because it takes a whileTo recognize the thingsThat you always considered ‘normal’To really just be white.Unlearning a strange form of self-policingThat finds many of the non-whiteThings about yourselfSomehow problematic.And doing all thisWithout hating yourselfOr your white neighbour,Because loving bothIsn’t always easy.Unbuckling whitenessIs not about resentmentOr censureBut about coming to rest comfortablyIn a non-white […]

Privileged fools

Privilege does not necessarily make us foolsBut it easily can.Not because it dimishes our intellectOr erodes our common sense,But because our advantagesHave simplified our daily experiences,Reducing the enormity of lifeTo bite-size chunks,Taming our existence,Shielding us from harsh realitiesThat others know as commonplace.These are not sins to repent ofOr blessings to overlook,But a lens to be […]

The privileged ones

Are often not the onesBest positioned to see everythingFor what it really is-Like a person who’s never goneWithout light,Straining and struggling to seeIn the darkness,For their eyes are not accustomedTo the experience of thoseWho live in the shadows.Yet their privilege gives them powerThat no one else has,To change the order of things,To make the room […]

Homogenous Utopia

Are we secretly hoping for a world Where one day “We’ll all get along” In a homogenous utopia Where no one’s skin has any colour And we all speak good English Treating each other like family Where no one cares About politics or war Or anything uncomfortable? That’s heavy on the homogenous And light on the utopia. […]

On ‘acting white’

In many African languagesThe word for ‘white’Is often the same word usedColloquilly for ‘better’Or ‘superior’ or even‘Learned’.ChirunguSegoaIt is no wonder thenThat it seems that whenYou are in some postion ofGood fortuneHave good tasteProvide a quality serviceOr have some advantageThat has come your wayThen you can be said to ‘acting white’.Being good at something doesn’t mean‘Acting […]

Contemporaries

The faces we see on a daily basis, Familiar though we don’t really know their stories. The faces in frames on our living room wall, We may not see them daily but their stories are embedded in our own. The contacts on our phone Scrolling past people we once spent many hours with While other […]

I don’t see colour

Is a way of hiding. How can you not see it? I don’t see how God could create so much diversity Only for us to close our eyes to it? If we are all made in the image of God, Yet we are not all alike It means we are several manifestations From a single […]

Incompetence?

Is often code name for something else, Or at least a blanket phrase for a number things: Poor communication skills such as the inability to articulate what you can and cannot do, Overstated ambition, where, in fear of being underestimated you take a bite of more than you can actually chew, Or good old fashioned […]

heartinscriber

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. -Proverbs 23:7

Race