in the arms of critical discourse...

I only recently started to ask critical questions again. Not the kind of questions we ask ourselves everyday as we get caught up with just merely existing. Sometimes we find that we might even stop asking questions all together , and we just accept whatever we are told.

When we were black. When we were young....We asked the critical questions all the time. As a child of the 80's it was not easy to simply ignore what was happening around us. We could not ignore the pain and anxiety. We went to the front lines willingly. We fought running battles in our communities and we took in-principled decisions to defy the apartheid state.

But we were just kids with a burning revolutionary fervor. We were hungry for justice and we would do just about anything to attain it. Faces camouflaged, molotov cocktail in hand, flaming tyre rolling down to the barricade...marxist revolution in mind...

We lived, we ran, we hid, we spoke, we agreed, we loved, made love, we argued, but we found each other and we embraced. We had a common enemy. Maybe it was easier in a way back then.

Who would have known that the child of the revolution would grow up to what we have today. Who is the enemy today? And who is the protector of that enemy?

I was very privileged to have had amongst my mentors principled individuals who were activist-journalist with progressive left leaning politics. They refined in me the need to ask the critical questions.

In our country today we have embraced the idea of nationhood and as we find ourselves a few weeks away from the biggest world spectacle to hit our shores, the 2010 World Cup. We are becoming even more unified. And it is a beautiful face. This is something we fought for and that so many have given their lives for. Unity & non-racialism that is.

I love my country and I believe in my people. But I must ask what will happen post this World Cup?
Will we still embrace one another as we should? Will we extent to our blood brothers and sisters from this continent, the same courtesy we are extending our guests from Europe, the Sub Continent and the Americas?

Will our political leadership have the sense to reflect on the demographic make-up of our provinces and listen to the voice of the poor and make the necessary amendments?
Will we give the poor a chance? Will we remember our collective past and not merely use it for cheap political point scoring?

Are we truly reconciled or was it just a quick process to whip a rainbow into shape?
Does the ruling party still espouse true democracy and non-racialism?
Are the current leadership across political parties in tune with the needs of the people and are they competent to rule and guide their constituencies?

Will we open our eyes beyond the newly constructed world cup infrastructure and cast our eyes on the reality of our townships and other informal settlements in both urban and rural areas?

I have so many more questions to ask. But I will leave it up to ya all to ask the rest....

Peace & Love
GAH the truthseeker