#colinization

[re: this post]

So before my father was taken, he was a lifelong construction worker. He never learned how to read, but his business acumen, people skills, spatial sense and his eye for cutting through to underlying substance - those skills were second to none. He eventually started his own business and not long ago, once I was old enough, I had the great honor of working with him on several jobs. From 80 story skyskrapers to single family dwellings. I watched my father build them all, from start to finish. The one thing he made sure that I learned early on was the importance of the foundation. How, structurally speaking, getting the foundation as close to perfect was more important than almost anything else. If you wanted the structure to stand and to last for a long time, building a strong foundation wasn’t just the first job, it was also the most important one. Through sheer luck, a building with a shaky foundation may stand, but it will never be somewhere people feel safe in a storm. You can build the roof, walls and interiors with the finest most expensive materials, but if the foundation was weak, well then ….

I mention all of this because it reminded me of how oddly people sometimes decide to pick their starting point with certain narratives. The true foundation of South Africa isn’t a colonialist government. To be crystal clear: any economic collapse in Zimbabwe did not “begin” when land was redistributed back to BLACK people,the rightful owners. The seeds for economic collapse were planted long ago when the land was brutally stolen and the people were oppressed simply for not being white. So I reject any narrative that suggests that giving back what was stolen somehow has a causal effect on economic hardships the country might now be facing. Begin at the beginning, not at some convenient midpoint that supports a specious narrative. Stealing land and resources from the indigenous Black people who were there first is the most obvious place to begin, that is, IF we are really looking for explanations and contributing factors for a bad economy. 

I’m sorry, but the framing used also reminds me of something I’ve seen newspapers do too often here in the U.S. when, for example, an abuser kills their wife. The killer says he murdered his wife because she cheated on him, and somehow that’s what becomes the “official” story printed in headlines - the killer’s narrative. “Angry husband kills cheating wife” instead of, “Man with history of abuse kills wife.” Do you see what I’m trying to say here? Who does the chosen narrative support, and who does it vilify? The victim or the victimizer? The oppressed or the oppressor? The colonized or the colonizer?

I have no idea if you’re black or white @curlymischief , but the framing matters, and literally everyone - even Black people - are taught from birth to first consider things from the viewpoint of white supremacy. I’m more than a little late at 33yrs old, but as a black man in 2018 America, I’m trying very hard to always ask myself who’s narrative a story supports. Especially with politics.

Finally, the story of Zimbabwe and South Africa are not finished. Their stories don’t just suddenly end when the white colonizers get their asses handed to them. NO country recovers from decades and decades of colonization overnight. And no country recovers from decades of foreign inflicted political instability overnight. And no country is perfect. I’m willing to bet that if they have an honest government picked by the people—not by foreign Western countries or their multinational corporations—then the citizens of Zimbabwe and South Africa would be more than willing to endure any temporary economic hardships, so long as they’re only speed bumps on the path to a better country where racism (and hopefully colorism) are not the deciding factors in their lives. 

Need a little something to brighten your day? How about some hot new audio?

We have the perfect thing to help you through the hump day blues. The long-awaited audio of Starflight: Tales from the Starport Lounge, narrated by the talented Talia Carver is available on audible. Get your copy on Audible