The Stories That Define Us
uthor Clinton Chauke documents some of the sentiments of his generation in his book, Born in chains: The diary of an angry ‘born free’, in which he argues that his generation is still very much trapped by the enduring tendrils of the oppressive system that preceded them: “To be born free, to me, comes with […]
Black Joy
BLACK JOY We were spanked for each other’s sins, spanked in syllables and by the word of God. Before dark meant home time. My grandmother’s mattress knew each of my siblings, cousins, and the neighbour’s children’s morning breath by name. A single mattress spread on the floor was enough for all of us. Bread slices […]
Johannesburg
JOHANNESBURG Johannesburg, let my people glow All the dream-chasers The skyscrapers that raise us The moon that brings out the best in us And stars that pave the way for us The highways, the one-way-streets The nightclubs, the township beats Every child who dares to be: Opens books to bring new worlds to reach And […]
We have to live
“Although he is called the same person, he never has the same constituents, but is always being renewed… This does not apply only to the body, but also to the mind: attributes, character-traits, beliefs, desires, pleasures, pains, fears – none of these ever remain the same in each of us…” PLATO, Symposium Plato wrote these […]
HAND-ME-DOWNS
HAND-ME-DOWNS In January, birthdays are celebrated with a bucket of KFC, a simple cake and Coca-Cola. Schools open in January, so do not even consider throwing a party; if you were allowed to invite your friends from next door, you were lucky. But even with January syndrome, we made sure to not attend the first […]
