Making A Better World - Milton Louw

But maybe memory is what young people need to be taught before they can be taught actual history.

Johannes Wilhelm Krabbenhoeft was the son of Friedrich Wilhelm Krabbenhoeft who established the trading house Krabbenhoeft and Lampe at Lüderitz, and his wife Lucie Krabbenhoeft née Forbes. He was born on 20.09.1882 at Keetmanshoop. Due to the fact that his mother was a "coloured" woman from the Cape Colony in South Africa, he had later difficulties in the Schutztruppe during the German colonial period. Present Day (2010) What am I doing by writing about this? The sociology of race and of ethnic relations is the area of the discipline that studies the social, political, and economic relations between races and ethnicities at all levels of society. This area encompasses the study of racism, residential segregation, and other complex social processes between different racial and ethnic groups. The sociological analysis of race and ethnicity frequently interacts with other areas of sociology such as stratification and social psychology, as well as with postcolonial theor...

If students are to be encouraged to be active citizens, they have to be engaged as they are, where they are, find out what their aspirations are and make space for their cares within our agendas. Morality is not going to suddenly become appealing through a document that binds you to “obey the laws of our country, ensure that others do so as well, and contribute in every possible way to making South Africa a great country”. Morality is not easily made attractive, but its cause is not helped by a disregard for the voices of young people to whom we’re preaching active citizenship http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2011-03-27-finding-an-anthem-for-a-doomed-youth

http://www.namibiansun.com/story/way-things-are-africa Pashu Shuudi writes: ALTHOUGH hard to swallow, us black people despise everything that looks like us. To prove my point, not so long ago fellow blacks who run away from atrocities in their African countries were beaten, burned and some even killed by fellow blacks in South Africa. In Namibia, black supporters of the ruling party SWAPO and the opposition parties clashed in 2009 and we are still hearing of such quarrels or violence just in the name of politics. Through history, I have come to learn that we actually disliked one another before colonialism, hence fierce tribal fights during those years. Colonialism united us all in the fight against a common enemy. After colonialism, we saw the rebirth of what we thought was buried long time ago, tribalism, regionalism, favouritism, etc. Although we do not like others from other tribes, we all love things that we do not produce. We love fine branded clothes, (Polo, Paris Hilton,...

Replays - Social Entrepreneur Empowerment Series Interviews with some of the best social entrepreneurs around

Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change. Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps. Visit the Ashoka Website for more information: What is a social entrepreneur

on Namibia's 21st birthday, 21 March 2011 This morning once more my country awakes This day is no normal day though, No, today my country has come of age, It is no longer a child, But an adult member of the world. I remember its birth many sunrises ago When I was chosen to raise our new flag, Looking out from that first maternity ward Over the rolling hills of our capital Windhoek The skyline created by the colonialists. Today, my country receives its key, The key to unlock things before hidden, Things that were forbidden to do, Now maturity must lend a hand And help in the choices it makes. During its teenage years, I became worried as it flirted, Its political alliances changing shape Hard words being exchanged during puberty Crying tears of unanswered love. As my country becomes more self-assured Exerting its own will and wants It is time to step quietly aside, Assuring it of my undying, continued love While letting it achieve its own greatness. S...

What happened to multicultural identity? : "A few years ago, the Harvard Committee on African Studies asked me to address them on some of the challenges facing our new democracy." Political institutions structured around identity is a recipe for disaster. The current provinces deepen ethnic identities and identity interests around being coloured or Indian or Zulu or Xhosa or Pedi. They should be abolished. A common South African identity will remain elusive for as long as we do not have a much more cosmopolitan view of space. Gauteng is an example of the kind of geographical cosmopolitanism I have in mind. There is no ethnic group that can claim exclusive ownership of the geographic space given the multiple origins and identities of the people who live there. This principle needs to be elevated to the national level.

The African People's Organisation (APO), originally the African Political Organisation, was formed in Cape Town in 1902 and was initially the most prominent "coloured" pressure group in South Africa. Its interest in SWA/Namibia goes back to at least 1918 when it opposed the transfer of the former German colony to the South Africa Authority. The first SWA branch of the APO was established in Windhoek in February 1923. In informing the colonial authorities of the establishment of the branch, the leaders stated that the aims of the organisation were to defend "the Social Political and Civil Rights of the Cape Coloured Community throughout the SW Protectorate. Another political organisation which devoted itself to representing the Coloured community in SWA, the African National Bond, was also launched in Windhoek in 1925. The APO, although it recruited its members from the relatively small group of educated and economically comfortably off Coloureds, was to become the ...

Consumers International Blog: Financial service providers must go back to their roots

Coloureds in Namibia since 1884: William Worthington Jordan, was a "coloured" man from the Cape Colony in South Africa. His father was British and his mother cape coloured. He was a hunter and trader in Botswana, Namibia and Angola. On 21.04.1884 Jordan obtained a land and minerals concession of 50,000 kilometres around Otavi and Grootfontein from Ondonga King Kambonde kaMpingana, king of the Ondongas in the interior of Namibia. Kambonde hoped to strengthen his position against his main rival for control of the Ongonda chiefdom, Nehale Mpingana. Jordan had traded with the Dorsland Trekkers and a group of trekboers on their way back from Angola were invited to stay on this concession he called the "Republic Upingtonia" - that on 20 Oct 1885 was founded as a settler polity with Grootfontein as its capital. He purchased the area on payment of 300 English pounds, 25 rifles, a slated horse and a barrel of brandy. Subsequently the name is changed to Lijdensrust(Ly...

I WAS shocked by the article ‘Manuel slams ANC spokesman on ‘coloureds’ remarks’ (The Namibian, 3 March) for being such a racist article itself! While addressing a racist incident in South Africa, the journalist made some disturbing racist statements: 1) The article refers to ‘… a mixed-race group of people.’ This is the language of the mentally-challenged apartheid ideologues and the fascists with their delusions about ‘racial purity.’ Some of the recent incidents in Windhoek show how mentally challenged the racists are. The question of racism remains relevant to us in Namibia since we are dealing with the same kinds of issues here. 2) ‘Coloureds – descendants of the British, Portuguese, African tribes and others – were forcibly concentrated in the western region…’ The coloured people were subjected to the Group Areas Act, but were never ‘forcibly concentrated’ as they have always lived in that region. It would seem that this racially-challenged article was written by some journal...

JOHANNESBURG – A powerful member of the African National Congress yesterday accused the new government spokesman of making racially insensitive comments that echoed the injustices of the apartheid era. The fallout could hurt President Jacob Zuma and his African National Congress who are facing local elections in May. Economic Planning Minister Trevor Manuel, the former finance minister, said spokesman Jimmy Manyi brought shame to the dreams of Nelson Mandela and tarnished the non-racial policies of the ANC by making disparaging remarks in a television interview about a mixed-race group of people classified as ‘coloureds’. “I know who Nelson Mandela was talking about when he said from the dock that he had fought against white domination and he had fought against black domination,” Manuel, himself coloured, said in an open letter quoted by the Star newspaper. “Jimmy, he was talking about fighting against people like you,” the letter said. Manuel was not available for comment and Man...

The coloured community of South Africa has recently been in the spotlight as a result of some inflammatory and exceptionally offensive statements by prominent ruling party representatives and journalists (Jimmy Many, Kuli Roberts). One can be forgiven for thinking these pejorative and demeaning perceptions of the Coloured community in South Africa could not possibly hold any real currency in the public sector, however, local non-profit organisation SAME (the South African Movement for Equality) says otherwise...and the group says it has conclusive and damning proof. SAME has in its possession conclusive and damning proof which shows that the institutional and disdainful disregard of the coloured community of South Africa is nothing new and is instead an entrenched and systemic malaise that extends deep within South Africa's public institutions, most notably, the SABC (the South African Broadcast Corporation). “Since 2008, SAME has been involved in discussions with the SABC at the ...

Women in civil society in Africa are particularly prone to intimidation and harassment says a new report released today by CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. CIVICUS calls on African governments, regional bodies, the international community and civil society to do much more to protect women human rights defenders on the continent. Released to coincide with International Women’s Day, the report outlines the major challenges faced by women in civil society in Africa. These include deeply entrenched patriarchal norms and an increased risk of sexual harassment and violence due to the nature of their work. The report argues that the overall environment for women in civil society in Africa is particularly challenging. “Even in countries with ratified laws and protocols on the protection of women’s rights, there are clear instances where government officials and security forces have shown lack of understanding of these laws, and in some situations, blatant disregard for th...