Girl from Parkwood
‘This is an “anthropology of anthropology” that remains to be done, that is ready to be done, and there can be no more of an anthropology at home than one that begins by studying itself, its history, its bases for being and continuing. We need to understand how anthropology continues to be a site or vehicle through which a certain segment of the world’s population experiences and consumes the world.’
(Source: literary-ethnography)
Beach football, Muizenberg, SA.
Photo by Goeun Bae
Hip-hop artists in South Africa have become social commentators of the issues affecting their communities. In their lyrics they challenge people to think beyond stereotypes and taken-for-granted constructions, …they are the voice and conscience of a generation that struggles to define their identity.
Reclaiming the Public Place
“According to Tilley (1994:203) ‘place constitute space as centres of human meaning, their singularity being manifested and expresses in the day-to-day experience of people within particular lifeworlds’. The ways in which public places, such as, parks and streets are inhabited are thus core in the construction of a community identity. Public places in many of the communities of the Cape Flats don’t belong anymore to all of those who live there. Instead of families and children playing in the parks, gangsters and drugdealers have taken over these areas designed for recreation. Initiatives like Come & Play represent an attempt to reclaim parks by inviting kids to come out of their houses and spend a hour or two playing old school games.”
Text from field-diary (and photo) by Goeun Bae
Segregated communities, disconnected realities…
Photo by Goeun Bae
“It was a hollow victory. Conditions improved very little in the Congo, and similar abuses — if not quite on the same scale — could be found throughout colonial Africa. At its root, the problem in the Congo, in fact, wasn’t Leopold. The problem was colonialism, white supremacy, and predatory capitalism, as it ws throughout the colonized world”.
“Why’s our flats designed like a commune for rats? Potential invisible like its nobody/We need to rise up like steam seek truth in dreams/Associate with winning teams/ stand out and be seen/No hide away like dust congested or curtain beams/”
From Coloured - Crime (part2) by Earl Nizzel Mentor
Photo © Goeun Bae
