I often critique mother Africa from an internationalist perspective. In the next breath, I will be sharing African wisdom with Westerners. I am an empathetic bridge-builder, unhappy with the status quo in which enclaves can harden into ghettos. I detested colonialism and apartheid and can still see their hateful legacy. The baseline of my work is the theme of justice. No justice, no peace.
I am not particularly well-to-do on white standards, but is of course much better off than the majority of South African citizens. I am middle-middle class, not even upper-middle class and certainly not upper class. My empathy is just too strong so I sacrificed over the decades to promote causes and to work as a change agent, an activist. So I wanted to practice what I preached about rapprochement and the need to get that Rainbow Nation out of TV studios and into real life on the street. And into the debates of college students, who are still young enough to change their attitudes and behavior.
I am hard working and at times daring too. I speak more than one language and am blessed with plenty of both education and experience. I am biblically literate so I use a lot of metaphors from that source. This draws me close to readers of all races in South Africa. I also tap many other sources – from ancient history to current affairs, because I am an avid reader.
I follow the daily news closely and I am a guest columnist for the Commentariat. Thus I mix touching testimony from my personal life with philosophical positivity. Even when it doesn't go well, I look for learning points. Where there is pain, there is gain. On that note, my favorite author CS Lewis wrote: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”