Robert Kelly Was Found Guilty, Do You Believe It Now?
In 2021, Robert Kelly was found guilty for his crimes and faces life in prison. What a vindicating moment. I remember being the only kid in school who knew not to sing his music. I remember my mother changing the radio station as soon as his music played. I remember my father’s shame whenever he found an R Kelly song in his playlist after having missed it when he was working on updating them. I remember the reactions to Surviving R Kelly. I remember it all, and this conviction is only a step in the right direction, but for all of the naysayers, Robert Kelly was found guilty – do you believe us now?
As a black woman, you can say, “Nah.”
As a black woman, the eve gene carriers, the oppressed of the oppressed, it’s time to start saying “Nah’. Nothing offends, outrages, and disrupts whiteness and patriarchy like a black woman saying no, excusing herself from that which doesn’t serve her, or simply speaking up for herself. It’s perfectly alright to say, “Nah.”
Thabang Setona, Evidence That ANC Is Not Anti-GBV
Individual strides in making perpetrators of gender-based violence account for their crimes are rewarding. At the same time, we need to see a systemic change in how the law treats these perpetrators. Let’s take the case against Thabang Setona, for example.
Predatory Pastors: A Scourge In South Africa’s Churches
Absolute power corrupts absolutely; at least, this much is true according to John Dalburg, formally known as Lord Acton. In a letter to Archbishop Mandell Creighton of the Anglican Church, Lord Acton commented on the hypocrisy of how religious leaders were being judged in comparison to commoners. He went on to write, “Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority.”
Carin Bester Brings Back “She Had A Name” Performance Piece
In 2020, when asked “how are we holding up okes”, I commented, “we are living in perpetual grief….” True to its pervasive nature, gender-based violence continues to ravage the lives of women across south africa and the world at large. In response, Carin Bester, artist and activist, has relaunched her She Had A Name performance art series for 2021.