Picture this, after having spent most of your afternoon busy with extracurricular activities or afterschool sports, you head back home, rush through your homework, only taking a break to take a big gulp of the ice-cold Oros you’ve poured for yourself. You rush through to the living room, turning over the cushions looking for the…
#WikipediaByUs: Celebrating South African knowledge creators The International Day for Universal Access to Information is celebrated annually on 28 September — a fact many South Africans are not aware of, meaning the day often passes us by, without acknowledgement nor celebration. However, this year will see cause for celebration as Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organisation…
Discourse around representation – as with most discourse – tends to get to a point in which it can feel a little clinical. It starts to feel like a bunch of arguments thrown together in varying contexts with similar approaches. However, this doesn’t make the actual practice of representation any less important. Hence, even after…
The digital media ecosystem is often an exclusionary space for Black women. The internet has changed that and it has democratized the creative industry and loosened the grip of the gatekeepers. Podcasting is one of the mediums where Black women are becoming more visible. It is a space where honest and thorough discourse around Black womanhood…
Yesterday the billionaires were billionairing, and in doing so, showed us more of what we already know: Black identity and the celebration of African diasporic culture does not make inclusion in violent, imperialist extraction okay. The Carters have *been* a menace. We’re just glad more people are peeping their faves as instrumental in maintaining the…
There’s a page on Instagram that I’ve liked ever since I saw it, it exposes people who wear fake clothes. I scrolled through the page to see how legit it is and as I was scrolling, I saw my name and my hat, and I was like ‘wtf’? Usually, I would ignore it because I…
It’s an unfortunate realisation to come to when one begins to notice that much of our country’s national holidays are symbolic gestures, rather than markers of actual change. The disappointment is in realising that the symbolic gestures end at symbolism, and don’t reflect any progress in the actual lived experiences of many within the country….
When you think about the biggest femme artists and media personalities in the world and in South Africa right now, who do you see? Who is the catalyst for visual culture, storytelling and desirability? Described very well by Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, Alice Walker, colourism is “prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely…
“K*nye represents a lot of what ya’ll losers want in real life: Capitalistic gluttony, uber fame, proximity to other celebs, proximity to whiteness, proximity to exotical p*ssy, biracial kids and having the ability to have dangerous politics with no consequences. LOL” Tweet by Kelle Nicole Terrell On July 22 Kanye West premiered Donda during a…
The politics of identity and representation never seem to end. We’re constantly going around in circles, putting out fires that never seem to cease nor end; spreading out with each new cultural term gaining traction amongst the public. Queerbaiting is defined as “a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but…
As a third-generation South African Indian, I often question my Indian heritage and Indian cultural identity as it seems that with every passing generation more of this heritage is lost. In recent years, through both my research and artistic practice, there has been an underlying theme of investigating my Indian identity and what it means…
Trigger warning: This article contains mention and discussion of abuse The public rift between rapper/podcaster Joe Budden and his former co-hosts Rory Farrell and Jamil “Mal” Clay created a social media frenzy. Many people took sympathy towards Rory and Mal as they were on the receiving end of Joe’s callous, loud rants and bad business…
