Found out some great news last week in that my poem "Your Shiny BEE Suit" was published in The Sowetan (http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/goodlife/youthtube/2011/06/20/your-shiny-bee-suit).
The peom is a direct attack on materialistic values I see exhibited in excess on certain individuals, and is my call for a shift in moral focus to the things that really matter.
Have a great week Ya'll!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
‘Going green’ in Africa and the place of local knowledge in conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation: setting the agenda for COP 17, South Africa
The 17th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 17/UNFCCC) is set to take place in South Africa, Durban, from the 28th of November to the 9th of December 2011. This marks the second time in its history that an African city has hosted this important conference. The UNFCCC arose out of an international environmental treaty generated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) that was held in Rio de Janeiro from the 3rd to the 14th of June 1992 and came into force on the 12th of March 1994.
The primary aim of the treaty is to minimise and stabilise greenhouse gas emissions’ concentration in the atmosphere to ensure that anthropogenic factors do not reach a level where they obstruct the natural functioning of the global climate system. The Convention is based on a recognition that “the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases” and seeks therefore to gather national governments to share and establish national strategies for attending to the emission of greenhouse gases so as to “cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change”.[1]
The treaty however has more symbolic meaning than practical enforceability as it stipulates no mandatory limits on the emission of greenhouse gases by individual countries. Therefore it is legally unenforceable. Recognising the defect in having a non-binding treaty, in 1997 the Kyoto Protocol was established at COP 3 which set-up up binding obligations for the developed nations of the world to decrease their contributions to greenhouse gas emissions.
Most industrialized countries and some central European economies agreed to be legally bound by the Kyoto Protocol and to reduce their greenhouse emissions by an average of 6%-8% below those of 1990 levels between the years of the first emissions budget period (2008-2012). Notably however one of the biggest greenhouse gasses emitters, the United States of America, which would be required to reduce it’s total emissions to an average of 7% below those of the 1990 levels, has not ratified the treaty and expressly rejected the treaty under the Bush administration in 2001.
A Joint year-long report by The Lancet and the University College London (UCL) Institute for Global Health reports that “Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century”. The report goes on to assert that “climate change will have its greatest effect on those who have least access to the worlds resources and who have contributed least to its cause. [Therefore] without mitigation and adaptation, it will increase inequity especially through negative effects on the social determinants of health in the poorest communities.”[2]
This piece argues that the COP 17 opportune the African intellectual community a chance to redefine the urgent issue of climate change for what it is – an issue of global inequality. Climate change is an issue of global inequality, and COP 17 should serve as the occasion for Africa and other developing nations to unequivocally state the issue as such. Solutions to climate change will only be implemented thoroughly when global inequality is addressed....
Please see the full article at: http://bokamosoafrica.org/2011/06/‘going-green’-in-africa-and-the-place-of-local-knowledge-in-conservation-climate-change-adaptation-and-mitigation-setting-the-agenda-for-cop-17-south-africa.html
The primary aim of the treaty is to minimise and stabilise greenhouse gas emissions’ concentration in the atmosphere to ensure that anthropogenic factors do not reach a level where they obstruct the natural functioning of the global climate system. The Convention is based on a recognition that “the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases” and seeks therefore to gather national governments to share and establish national strategies for attending to the emission of greenhouse gases so as to “cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change”.[1]
The treaty however has more symbolic meaning than practical enforceability as it stipulates no mandatory limits on the emission of greenhouse gases by individual countries. Therefore it is legally unenforceable. Recognising the defect in having a non-binding treaty, in 1997 the Kyoto Protocol was established at COP 3 which set-up up binding obligations for the developed nations of the world to decrease their contributions to greenhouse gas emissions.
Most industrialized countries and some central European economies agreed to be legally bound by the Kyoto Protocol and to reduce their greenhouse emissions by an average of 6%-8% below those of 1990 levels between the years of the first emissions budget period (2008-2012). Notably however one of the biggest greenhouse gasses emitters, the United States of America, which would be required to reduce it’s total emissions to an average of 7% below those of the 1990 levels, has not ratified the treaty and expressly rejected the treaty under the Bush administration in 2001.
A Joint year-long report by The Lancet and the University College London (UCL) Institute for Global Health reports that “Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century”. The report goes on to assert that “climate change will have its greatest effect on those who have least access to the worlds resources and who have contributed least to its cause. [Therefore] without mitigation and adaptation, it will increase inequity especially through negative effects on the social determinants of health in the poorest communities.”[2]
This piece argues that the COP 17 opportune the African intellectual community a chance to redefine the urgent issue of climate change for what it is – an issue of global inequality. Climate change is an issue of global inequality, and COP 17 should serve as the occasion for Africa and other developing nations to unequivocally state the issue as such. Solutions to climate change will only be implemented thoroughly when global inequality is addressed....
Please see the full article at: http://bokamosoafrica.org/2011/06/‘going-green’-in-africa-and-the-place-of-local-knowledge-in-conservation-climate-change-adaptation-and-mitigation-setting-the-agenda-for-cop-17-south-africa.html
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Writing In The Shadow of Apartheid (by: Gcobani Qambela)
South Africa has endured and survived over 300 centuries of colonial rule and just over 40 years of apartheid rule which censored and favoured particular and often representationally biased narratives on or about South Africa and in the process silencing many opposing accounts not deemed in the interest of the country.
The gradual fall of apartheid in the late 1980’s and the eventual first democratic elections on the 27th of April 1994 unlocked a new a new market for the narration of the South African struggle to the rest of the world, largely ushered in by the first post-apartheid President of the Country, Nelson Mandela’s ‘Long Walk to Freedom’, an autobiographical account of his life in the struggle for the liberation of South Africa.
However as South Africa steadily rehabilitated itself from the world as a global pariah to one of the most successful transition stories in world history and (re)positioned itself as a leading nation both in Africa and the world, we witnessed a shift in the world interest from its apartheid past, to a new curiosity about the ‘new’ life in the now largely integrated South Africa. This is an opportunity many young writers from across all racial lines took up with great exhilaration....
Kindly see the ORIGINAL ARTICLE at: http://www.thiis.co.za/culture/writing-in-the-shadow-of-apartheid/
The gradual fall of apartheid in the late 1980’s and the eventual first democratic elections on the 27th of April 1994 unlocked a new a new market for the narration of the South African struggle to the rest of the world, largely ushered in by the first post-apartheid President of the Country, Nelson Mandela’s ‘Long Walk to Freedom’, an autobiographical account of his life in the struggle for the liberation of South Africa.
However as South Africa steadily rehabilitated itself from the world as a global pariah to one of the most successful transition stories in world history and (re)positioned itself as a leading nation both in Africa and the world, we witnessed a shift in the world interest from its apartheid past, to a new curiosity about the ‘new’ life in the now largely integrated South Africa. This is an opportunity many young writers from across all racial lines took up with great exhilaration....
Kindly see the ORIGINAL ARTICLE at: http://www.thiis.co.za/culture/writing-in-the-shadow-of-apartheid/
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Your Shiny BEE Suit: a poem (by: Gcobani Qambela)
(BEE = Black Economic Empowerment).
I am not impressed by your shiny BEE suit
Your shiny BEE suit does not impress me.
Picturesque garments never match obnoxious souls,
Ignorant of the sufferings of many,
Lacking self worth and hiding behind your fake Armani suit
And ‘International’ souvenirs of days gone by
Oblivious to the light shining from the suit,
Clearly painting your inner insecurity conflict…
I am not impressed by your shiny BEE suit
Your shiny BEE suit does not impress me.
It lacks authenticity
And oozes vanity in excess,
It screams your arrogance,
And lack of grace.
You are the master of flamboyance,
And a failed student of benevolence.
And yet you don’t even know why your suit shines.
I am not impressed by your shiny BEE suit
Your shiny BEE suit does not impress me,
Because I know why it shines.
Your suit shines because it drips of blood,
The blood of young martyrs, who fought for the liberation of our nation,
Liberation for the de-enslavement of the oppressed mind.
Your suit shines of forgotten promises made,
It drizzles embezzled wealth and unearned riches.
I am not impressed by your shiny BEE suit
Your shiny BEE suit does not impress me,
Because I know it shines of an insecure and weeping soul,
So out of touch with itself
That it seeks external manifestations for inborn confidence
Hiding your historical duty behind the plastic English accent
Hungry for confirmation from the world
You continue to shine with our forefather’s blood.
Your shiny BEE suit does not impress me,
It’s as meaningful as those fake Italian shoes you adorn with such pride
You have etched a memory of loss on the world
And have sold your soul essence
Spiritually poor, you keep searching the world
Ravenous and hungry for security and love
All you are is a little boy,
Who has forgotten who he is…
So your suit shines for you, but it does not impress me.
I see right through it!
*For you - "Black Diamond"*
(c) Gcobani Qambela (2011)
I am not impressed by your shiny BEE suit
Your shiny BEE suit does not impress me.
Picturesque garments never match obnoxious souls,
Ignorant of the sufferings of many,
Lacking self worth and hiding behind your fake Armani suit
And ‘International’ souvenirs of days gone by
Oblivious to the light shining from the suit,
Clearly painting your inner insecurity conflict…
I am not impressed by your shiny BEE suit
Your shiny BEE suit does not impress me.
It lacks authenticity
And oozes vanity in excess,
It screams your arrogance,
And lack of grace.
You are the master of flamboyance,
And a failed student of benevolence.
And yet you don’t even know why your suit shines.
I am not impressed by your shiny BEE suit
Your shiny BEE suit does not impress me,
Because I know why it shines.
Your suit shines because it drips of blood,
The blood of young martyrs, who fought for the liberation of our nation,
Liberation for the de-enslavement of the oppressed mind.
Your suit shines of forgotten promises made,
It drizzles embezzled wealth and unearned riches.
I am not impressed by your shiny BEE suit
Your shiny BEE suit does not impress me,
Because I know it shines of an insecure and weeping soul,
So out of touch with itself
That it seeks external manifestations for inborn confidence
Hiding your historical duty behind the plastic English accent
Hungry for confirmation from the world
You continue to shine with our forefather’s blood.
Your shiny BEE suit does not impress me,
It’s as meaningful as those fake Italian shoes you adorn with such pride
You have etched a memory of loss on the world
And have sold your soul essence
Spiritually poor, you keep searching the world
Ravenous and hungry for security and love
All you are is a little boy,
Who has forgotten who he is…
So your suit shines for you, but it does not impress me.
I see right through it!
*For you - "Black Diamond"*
(c) Gcobani Qambela (2011)
Friday, May 13, 2011
Reclaiming the ANC's Youth Voice
By: Gcobani Qambela
Many young South African’s appear to have reached a point of complete apathy towards South African politics, finding themselves no longer able to relate to the leading party, but with no viable or strong opposition parties to turn to, most are opting and refusing to vote. A comment on Facebook by a Rhodes University graduate and current University of Cape Town Student, Andisiwe Mthatyana sets the scene: “I guess I have really lost faith in SA politics, oh let me say I am anti-SA politics! I refuse to vote!” she says...
FULL ARTICLE AT: http://www.thiis.co.za/politics/reclaiming-the-ancs-youth-voice/
Feedback and comments on ORIGINAL article are always more than welcome :)
Many young South African’s appear to have reached a point of complete apathy towards South African politics, finding themselves no longer able to relate to the leading party, but with no viable or strong opposition parties to turn to, most are opting and refusing to vote. A comment on Facebook by a Rhodes University graduate and current University of Cape Town Student, Andisiwe Mthatyana sets the scene: “I guess I have really lost faith in SA politics, oh let me say I am anti-SA politics! I refuse to vote!” she says...
FULL ARTICLE AT: http://www.thiis.co.za/politics/reclaiming-the-ancs-youth-voice/
Feedback and comments on ORIGINAL article are always more than welcome :)
The Bastardisation of African Knowledge, transforming colonial minds and re-visiting the significance of Freedom in South Africa
By: Gcobani Qambela
Wednesday the 27th of April 2011 marks the 17th annual Freedom Day in South Africa, a historic day in the country’s history signifying the first ever non-racial democratic elections and the coming into effect of the country’s first ever Constitution with a justiciable Bill of Rights that put an end to over three centuries of colonial and later apartheid rule and domination in the country.
The recent tragic and controversial television broadcast of ‘police brutality’ at a service delivery protest demonstration in Ficksburg, Free State province, South Africa; has brought to the fore a call to re-visit the extent to which the post-apartheid South African government under the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) has echoed similar behaviour to that of its apartheid and colonial predecessors. This protest was marked by the assault and alleged shooting and death, by the SAPS, of Andries Tetane. This expose makes us not only question the extent to which the ANC government is similar to its predecessors, but also the degree to which it has been able to respond to the demands laid forth for realisation in South Africa’s constitution for the attainment of all-round freedom by South Africans (encompassing socio-economic and political freedoms).
The year 2011 also marks the 34th anniversary of the untimely death of Stephen Bantu Biko (more commonly known as ‘Steve Biko’) at the hands of the apartheid police. This piece seeks to evaluate the extent to which what Biko referred to as ‘the bastardisation of African knowledge’ has persisted into the post-colonial/post-apartheid era. It further seeks to uproot the scope and the boundaries within which colonial minds have been transformed (with a special emphasis on higher education institutions) and lastly concludes with an assessment of the meaning of ‘freedom’ (and consequently ‘Freedom Day’) in 2011 South Africa.
Tapping into the intellectual produce of Steve Biko, this commentary argues that while the discourse in South Africa has shifted since the 1970’s/1960’s from race to class, education has been utilised as the Post-apartheid/Colonial Gatekeeper to opportunity for the black race and economically marginalised in South Africa, and that consequently true freedom in the country can only be obtained when South Africans are given the opportunity to get proper, all round and holistic education - education opportunities that are not premised on race or marginalization history....
PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE AND COMMENT ON THE ORIGINAL AT:
http://bokamosoafrica.org/2011/04/bastardisation-of-african-knowledge-steve-biko.html
Wednesday the 27th of April 2011 marks the 17th annual Freedom Day in South Africa, a historic day in the country’s history signifying the first ever non-racial democratic elections and the coming into effect of the country’s first ever Constitution with a justiciable Bill of Rights that put an end to over three centuries of colonial and later apartheid rule and domination in the country.
The recent tragic and controversial television broadcast of ‘police brutality’ at a service delivery protest demonstration in Ficksburg, Free State province, South Africa; has brought to the fore a call to re-visit the extent to which the post-apartheid South African government under the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) has echoed similar behaviour to that of its apartheid and colonial predecessors. This protest was marked by the assault and alleged shooting and death, by the SAPS, of Andries Tetane. This expose makes us not only question the extent to which the ANC government is similar to its predecessors, but also the degree to which it has been able to respond to the demands laid forth for realisation in South Africa’s constitution for the attainment of all-round freedom by South Africans (encompassing socio-economic and political freedoms).
The year 2011 also marks the 34th anniversary of the untimely death of Stephen Bantu Biko (more commonly known as ‘Steve Biko’) at the hands of the apartheid police. This piece seeks to evaluate the extent to which what Biko referred to as ‘the bastardisation of African knowledge’ has persisted into the post-colonial/post-apartheid era. It further seeks to uproot the scope and the boundaries within which colonial minds have been transformed (with a special emphasis on higher education institutions) and lastly concludes with an assessment of the meaning of ‘freedom’ (and consequently ‘Freedom Day’) in 2011 South Africa.
Tapping into the intellectual produce of Steve Biko, this commentary argues that while the discourse in South Africa has shifted since the 1970’s/1960’s from race to class, education has been utilised as the Post-apartheid/Colonial Gatekeeper to opportunity for the black race and economically marginalised in South Africa, and that consequently true freedom in the country can only be obtained when South Africans are given the opportunity to get proper, all round and holistic education - education opportunities that are not premised on race or marginalization history....
PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE AND COMMENT ON THE ORIGINAL AT:
http://bokamosoafrica.org/2011/04/bastardisation-of-african-knowledge-steve-biko.html
Unpacking the post-apartheid narrative on AIDS and black women
By: Gcobani Qambela
... A key question raised by Rhodes University Lecturer, Siphokazi Magadla at the seminar paints the rationale for this short piece. She questioned the extent to which the post 1990 narrative of AIDS has since then shifted from primarily HIV positive white homosexual men (from 1980-1990), to poor black women in the townships/rural areas (post 1990) and consequently repeating the same mistake as made by the medical researchers in the 1980’s/1990’s. Indeed, this cannot be denied – it is happening. The dominant post-apartheid discourse on AIDS has shifted primarily to black women, and black women alone as the carriers and the most affected individuals for the HIV pandemic....
COMMENTS ON ORIGINAL ARTICLE WOULD BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED...
SEE THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE: http://feministssa.com/2011/04/04/unpacking-the-post-apartheid-narrative-on-aids-and-black-women/
... A key question raised by Rhodes University Lecturer, Siphokazi Magadla at the seminar paints the rationale for this short piece. She questioned the extent to which the post 1990 narrative of AIDS has since then shifted from primarily HIV positive white homosexual men (from 1980-1990), to poor black women in the townships/rural areas (post 1990) and consequently repeating the same mistake as made by the medical researchers in the 1980’s/1990’s. Indeed, this cannot be denied – it is happening. The dominant post-apartheid discourse on AIDS has shifted primarily to black women, and black women alone as the carriers and the most affected individuals for the HIV pandemic....
COMMENTS ON ORIGINAL ARTICLE WOULD BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED...
SEE THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE: http://feministssa.com/2011/04/04/unpacking-the-post-apartheid-narrative-on-aids-and-black-women/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)