Busy bees blog badly. I’m waiting for a weekend, or an evening, or morning, or just any time of day where I can sit down and think about what the hell I’ve been up to over the past few weeks. Need to make time for proper blogging too. In the meantime, here’s a small digital dividend from a rather hectic schedule- I’ve been inducted into a fine new circle of South African iconoclasts at Red. Among the joys to be found there is a rap duel between Anarchists and Trotskyists, a Raptabate, originally, I think, from New York IMC.
All Yesterday’s Children
Just back from seeing a fantastic film. “Yesterday”, the first, long overdue, movie to be filmed in Zulu, tells the story of Yesterday, “named like that by my father. He said things were better yesterday than today”, a woman diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. It’s a spectacular fable, one that never relents in the physical portrayal of the disease, but pays almost-even-handed attention to the social context of AIDS in rural KwaZulu-Natal. In moments, notably the discussion in which village women debate whether to let their children play near Yesterday’s deeply ill HIV+ husband, are moments of triumph, even as they show the triumph of ignorance over compassion. And Lihle Mvelase’s portrayal of Yesterday’s daughter deserves far wider recognition than she’s ever likely to receive. Go see.
If children are the future
why are so many men with guns shooting at them? Right now, we’ve the high profile hostage drama in Russia.
And then we have a quieted South African story. On Monday, the police shot at 4,000 mainly school-aged children from Bloemfontein, Welkom, Botshabelo and Qwaqwa in Intabezwe, in the Free State. The students were protesting against underdevelopment.