In 1975, John Lennon wrote in a letter, ‘I’ll live till a ripe old age! I’m sure of it.’ In 1980, he wrote in a song on Double Fantasy, the last album before he died, ‘Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.’ And then life happened…
Feature
Letter to American voters: Vote for all our rights
These days, in the age of global pandemics, global climate change, global financial systems, global migration and global inequality, we are all global citizens. Unfortunately, though, we do not yet have global voting rights. Although our governments sit in global bodies like the United Nations (UN), they rarely consult us on the resolutions they adopt. This leaves us powerless to shape some of the political processes that have the greatest impact on our lives. But there are also countries whose politics affect the whole world. One of these is the United States, whose election on 3 November 2020 is of global importance.
Young women boxers in Joburg’s inner city fight for Nirvana
‘Nirvana is a sacred space that we have reimagined for every inner-city girl or young woman so that she may achieve anything she sets her mind to. Here, we support and inspire each other. We develop skills. We align to the values of leadership, focus, purpose and passion. We encourage freedom of expression through the arts. We nurture a sense of compassion for humanity by being of service to our young and old. Here is where we grow.’
Sol Plaatje and Shakespeare: A Lovedale love story
A 1995 research paper by Maverick Citizen Editor Mark Heywood reveals how a love affair between Sol Plaatje and Shakespeare left a deep impression on the writer’s own literary and intellectual views.
It’s time to riot – putting poetry back into activism
Politics is pivotal to people’s well-being and existence, yet we write about it in a way that is often predictable and dominated by one-dimensional men. One-dimensional writing disconnects politics from our being and makes us numb. These angst-filled times demand that we rediscover and describe the poetry in politics.
Healthcare Heroes: Memorial to hospital workers unveiled
The Healthcare Workers Heroes Memorial aims to recognise and remember all those “who have fallen in the line of duty”. Yet, unlike soldiers, for whom monuments and memorials were traditionally constructed, the duty of those who fell in the Covid-19 “war” was not to take lives but to save lives. They lost their lives saving others. They could have stayed at home and refused to work. They didn’t. They followed their calling and worked in the line of fire.
Makers Valley, Johannesburg: In the midst of crisis, a network of possibility
If we lived in the type of society envisaged by our Constitution – one where there is equality and social justice – Johanna ‘Jojo’ Monama would probably be employed in the public or private sector. But our society is neither fair nor equal, and that’s how Jojo found herself among many other talented people who can’t find jobs. But help came from an unlikely source. Covid-19 gave her a mission.
Tackling Hunger with Community Action Networks
Today Gauteng has over 100 community action networks, all of them made up of organisations and individuals who are trying to provide relief in the face of the humanitarian crisis unravelling in their communities.
Equal Education accuses Department of Basic Education of ‘administrative chaos’ over schoolchildren feeding programme
Another day in the court of the “new normal”. Except it was far from normal. Instead of squaring off in a court chamber, lawyers were squaring off over Zoom. As usual, the lawyers were robed and respectful. But the matter they were arguing was far from digital. In the words of Geoff Budlender SC, this was a matter about the hunger of “between three and four million schoolchildren” who that very same day were being denied their constitutional right to a school meal.
Public health warning: Why don’t white runners wear masks?
I am a runner. I am a mountain bike rider. I share my blood with other runners and riders who find joy, meaning, clarity of thought, peace of mind in physical movement. Sometimes we even find our purpose in the meshing of body, mind and nature that comes whilst pushing pedals or the endless tramp, tramp, tramp as the runner finds her rhythm.