Get drenched by the sweat of your brow.
Write your feelings down on a manilla envelope, then burn it. Then spread the ashes onto some sourdough toast after mixing it with Nutella.
Feed it to your Priest or Imam and be relieved of your sins.
Support the Patreon lads. No ads this week. I’m on a hold for review by Clickbank for my vile misuse of the English language. That’s why I’m so late this week, I was hoping to get it resolved with them. I’ve done a few dry runs on my Podcast, but the audio fidelity is fucking disgusting. I need to do more research and work. Maybe some more equipment as well.
https://www.patreon.com/Blacksheepwriting?fan_landing=true
It would be rude and ignorant of me not to address the current issue that is pissing off the planet again. Here goes.
So one of the biggest issues holding back the protests is the hashtag blackilivesmatter.
I think that the hashtag has also evolved into the name of the movement and it seems that some people are deciding to wank into the sugar bowl.
I get it though, without context, that name is definitely more racist than David Duke’s shotgun, but that name also holds a whole lot of nuance.
At its core, #blacklivesmatter is a movement against the disproportionate treatment of African Americans by Civil Servants.
It has nothing to do with racism or white people. Police is not a race, in fact no career is owned by any ethinic group. They were not born as Police Officers.
I think everyone agrees that the murder of George Floyd is aggregious, and that black people fall victim to police brutality more often than other races, so let them have their hashtag.
Blacklivesmatter doesn’t mean other lives don’t. That’s called oversimplification.
When someone starts a hashtag #SaveTheWhales, it doesn’t mean that all other creatures don’t need saving. It just means that whales need the attention now.
However, it does look racial doesn’t it?
It’s because it is mostly black people protesting with extreme passion, and looking at the powerful pictures coming out of America, I can understand why some older white people will feel threatened.
I’m the last person to give a fuck about the Yanks, but in order for me to live up to my own ethical expectations, I need to be outraged.
In my home country of South Africa, we have government sanctioned land claims, which in turn is resulting in White Farmers being killed. This too has become racial, and whenever I meet a white South African they automatically assume I either don’t care, or I support the farm murders. This is not true, obviously. Any injustice against a people is outrageous and extremely out of order. But obviously the white South Africans will be a lot more upset and angry because it is happening to their people. People who look like them.
A few years ago when I was presenting a Radio Show, I had the pleasure of interviewing Khoisan Chief Basil Coetzee. Chief Basil is a celebrated author and poet.
He came to Auckland as part of an initiative to introduce the indigenous Khoi people of South Africa to the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand. It was a beautiful experience and an honour for me to be part of.
Basil and I spent quite a lot of time together, we got on really well. Both of us being writers had us talking till deep into the night.
Smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, he taught me about my people, the Khoisan.
I’m extremely mixed race, Khoisan, Turk, African, Indian, European are the ones I know of, but being from Cape Town, Basil has christened me as Khoi.
At school we were not taught about the Khoi. The only history we learned was the European side of my history. Jan Van Riebeeck, Cecil John Rhodes and those lads. We were taught about Chaka Zulu, but he was the bad guy in the story. It took me years to realise that he was actually on the side of right.
So after the teachings from Basil, I decided to learn more about the Khoisan.
I found out that we were classified as monkeys, and because we were nomadic and elusive, European settlers used to game hunt us as trophies. This angered me, really angered me.
Then I watched a documentary about this plant called Hoodia Gordonii. It is a desert cactus that grows in the Kalahari.
The Khoi people did not farm, they were not taught how to, and they did not discover it. This meant that they moved with herds, as herds led them to food.
Because food was often scarce, the Khoi discovered the Hoodia plant.
This plant took away hunger pangs and allowed the tribes to go for days and weeks without food.
It’s consumption was ritualistic.
The plant takes over 50 years to grow, so the Khoi used to cut off tiny slivers without killing the plant. They would leave something of themselves or a sip of water to thank the plant for the exchange.
Then the cunts turned up.
A Pharmaceutical Company got word of the plant. They scoured the Kalahari and took every Hoodia plant they could find so they could make diet pills for rich pricks. So when the company was confronted by the tribal leaders about this, the Khoi were offered a sum of money. It was fuckall really, but what angered me was when a white South African guy said that all the tribes will do with the money is buy alcohol while he laughed into the camera.
This had me so pissed off. It was like I was experiencing all the trauma from all these injustices as they happened. It wasn’t a normal anger either, it was an existential anger that went all the way from my toes to the top of my head.
The reason I say this is because this does not impact my life in any way. I have enough food and I’ll never need Hoodia. But this still angered me.
How the fuck is the African American people of American supposed to feel about their current situation?
This police brutality is happening openly to them now. Their generational trauma like the one I felt for the Khoi is fueling it, don’t forget, these people have been fighting systematic racism for well over four centuries. These wounds are deep.
George Floyd was not from my tribe or my people, but if he was, I’d probably be slamming chairs through windows too.
And it’s not a racial thing at all.
The Irish are one of the whitest nations out there, but they are one of the biggest supporters of Blacklivesmatter. They have donated the most money to the cause and had a massive protest in Dublin on Tuesday.
The Irish know. They have spent 800 years under the boot of the Brits. Their generational trauma is ignited when they see similar injustices on another race of people.
Yes there is a dividing line.
That line is drawn between the oppressor and the oppressed. If you look at the countries and people who support the protest, you will clearly see the connection.
The only people who I think are actually racist are the ones who push the narrative that most black people die by the hands of other blacks in the US. This is true, but these are the works of criminals. Police aren’t meant to be criminals.
These cunts also argue that this is the reason why cops treat black people the way they do. They are not only admitting that there is a problem, but they are so far up their own holes that they fail to show any empathy for the victims.
If this is indeed the case, find the lowest common denominator and treat everyone like that. Then this would’ve been an Alllivesmatter movement.
Another fucked up justification is that some pundits are saying he was a criminal anyway and he had several felonies. I don’t know what a felony is, but if he was a convicted felon, then surely he has paid his price for his crimes already. Isn’t that how justice works, or do you want to go the Judge Dredd route?
So if it’s not racist people, then what is it?
I was asked this question so many times and I will answer it now.
This issue is unique to America fortunately.
During the Cold War, America was at its peak as the Global Economic Superpower based on their National GDP.
They had complete towns that were sustained by the arms industry. Private companies that sold weapons of war to both the US Government as well as other governments and private buyers. These are in the Rustbelt States and mostly employ white people, blue collar stuff. Business was good as long as there was war.
When the Cold War ended in the early nineties, there was no longer a need for these weapons so America started selling weapons, tanks and jets to countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
They didn’t care who bought them, as long as they could sell them. This doesn’t only ensure a steady export turnover, it also secures votes for the party in charge as Middle America has a stronger vote than the rest of the country, because of their corrupt system.
So with dwindling wars and dwindling sales, America has attempted a few wars of late. That shit with Russia, that killing of the Iranain General. But these countries didn’t take the bait, they know that the best way to beat America in a fight, is not to fight at all.
Now they need a new enemy.
That enemy is it’s own people.
For years these arms companies have been selling weapons to the Police. American police look less like police and more like some kind of futuristic soldiers. They have stock to deplete to keep the economy going.
America is built on capitalism, and capitalism is built on profit and loss.
Wherever there is accumulation, there has to be a deficit. Whether this deficit is finance, resource or moral. It is impossible to be profitable if these laws of exchange are compromised. This conflict involves all three of those deficits.
This is not Trump’s fault, although he is not doing anything to help ease any tensions. Things like hiding in his bunker and doing that Church thing.
That Church thing was comically scary wasn’t it? It was like being chased by a chihuahua who instead of paws, had human hands. Ridiculous.
Blacklivesmatter started under the Drone King, Barack Obama, who himself was black. This proves that no leader of that country can resolve this issue, because it is systemic. Their own racist constitution was written by people who owned slaves, and without the persecution of people of colour, they may as well burn up their constitution.
However, the scariest thing I have seen about the riots is the treatment of journalists. Fuck me that is scary.
The only other place I have seen this is in Israel with the IDF, those mad bastards do not give a shit about journos.
I think I know why cops are targeting the Press.
I honestly believe that police are trained to be brutal, they definitely are, their training is like 80% physical stuff.
Without brutality, they will not be unable to do their jobs. These cops are not targeting journalists because they are journalists, they are pissed off with cameras. Cameras that have been hindering their ability to do their work. Work that they were trained to do.
Feel free to call me a cunt, but these are my opinion and observations about what is happening now. If or when this changes, I will adjust my commentary accordingly.
That’s all for this week. Below is a little extra I had to add for some questions. No need to read it if you don’t want to.
So my eldest daughter had had a powerful picture printed on the front page of a few National and International Papers after she was snapped during the Blacklivesmatter protest here in Auckland. She became a bit of a poster girl for International Protests
Some of you posed some questions for me to ask her.
We live in a country that seems sympathetic to racial injustice, have you ever experienced any racism yourself?
At school, when we are doing social studies, my teachers are always wary that I am the only black kid in class. Quite often, they will ask me if I am comfortable with the topic of race. I usually am. I celebrate my uniqueness and I don’t mind.
I do experience a little bit of racism, but not because I am African or black.
I often get mistaken for a Pacific Islander and once in a Supermarket when I was with my friends, I got singled out and searched. I was also told to leave my bag at the counter while everyone else was allowed to carry theirs with them. It was very embarrassing, but this is the kind of thing that comes with looking different.
How did you feel watching the video of George Floyd?
I felt sickened.
I felt like it could be anyone. I can’t imagine what it must feel like for African Americans.
Do we feel that global protests will work?
No it won’t, because this has happened before.
All the cops will do is hide it for a while, I think that they are trained to be mean to people.
What do you think will work?
Free education for everyone. Not just black people.
This will mean that even police people officers will at least be educated. At one point, I wanted to join the force too, and all I needed was to finish school and pass a fitness test.
Free education will also allow everyone to be on a level playing field, as many black people can’t afford a proper education.
Can I borrow $20?
No.
Thank you for your time, a cup of tea will be good.
Thank you for reading this one, I know it’s not really creative writing this week, but I needed to get a few things off my chest.
This is a matter that I could not ignore.
