In search of a vaccine for the old virus
George Floyd. Collins Khosa. Tshegofatso Pule.
Three people. Three cities. Three horrific deaths. All of them black. Whilst in the grip of an unknown novel virus, the world has been shook by another, older virus.
The racism virus.
Centuries after the abolishment of slavery and the adoption of an international human rights regime, black bodies are still being crushed, hanged and suffocated at an alarming rate.
Here, in South Africa, racism has left its undeniable mark on our state, our DNA and our souls.
No wonder people are taking to the streets in Minneapolis, Oxford, Amsterdam and Sandton to protest the fact that in 2020 being black still means having an invisible target on your back.
This week’s edition of Friday Briefing is dedicated to the movement that is forcing the world to reconsider our beliefs, structures and norms. News24’s journalists write openly about their personal struggles with racial prejudice and the fight for a fairer society.
This is not a quick sprint, but George, Collins and Tshegofatso have hastened us to find a vaccine for this age-old virus.
Please join us on this journey.
Adriaan Basson
Editor-in-chief
From Tulsa to Alex – imagining a world where black life matters
Would Collins Khosa have been victimised the way he was in a world where black-owned banks were common and did not issue loans to property development companies that gentrified low income communities?
By Khulekani Magubane
The everyday fight to prove that you matter
The Black Lives Matter movement is about being seen, accepted for who we are, being given a fair shot and so much more. People of colour, black people, who matter. It’s that simple.
By Sheldon Morais
I said we’re part of the problem, you asked me to kill myself
Dismantling institutionalised racial bias within yourself and drilling through to the root of the problem are extremely uncomfortable and painful things to do. But I’m acutely aware that my discomfort is incomparable to the pain and hate caused by racism – especially the kind I was part of.
By Herman Eloff
Yhu, I’m tired, are you serious?
Black Lives Matter is not just another social media hashtag. Black Lives Matter is not just another protest.
By Nomvelo Chalumbira
How and where to find the next Makazole Mapimpi
The lack of opportunity in spheres such as sport isn’t divorced from the Black Lives Matter conversation.
By Sibusiso Mjikeliso
The day I realised that my privilege is linked to my success
The biggest question that has been bothering me amid the global Black Lives Matter protests is whether someone can be an ally of BLM and reject affirmative action?
By Qaanitah Hunter
Shaking off black bias at Stellenbosch University
The current protests sparked by the murder in custody of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer reminded me of my days as a student at Stellenbosch University from 2015 to 2019.
By Kamva Somdyala
Systemic racism runs so much deeper than people think
This lockdown has been an eye opener to many and the state of the inequalities in our school system in particular has been blinding. But we all should know this, unless you have been living under some kind of rock.
By Estrelita Moses
Chris Hani and the year my life exploded
While it is true that #AllLivesMatter, the harsh reality is that black South Africans have borne the brunt of successive state atrocities under both – the white supremacist apartheid government, and now under conditions of multi-racial democracy.
By Vanessa Banton
Perhaps it is time to admit that Mandela’s compromise failed
I naively hoped the white minority was not racist. Perhaps they aren’t, but many are ignorant – and in 2020, they no longer have the excuse to be.
By James De Villiers