Essays in Awareness

“He conquers minds, as well as hearts, wherever he goes; and without convincing anybody’s reason of any one thing, exalts their reason, and makes their minds worth more than they ever were before.”   There is no point if you … Continued

Insinuations legacy of ‘#MeToo’ campaign Once meeting a friend for a drink I opened the conversation; “Do I talk to women’s tits?” She assured me not. This thought had been sparked by a very high-level meeting the same day where … Continued

“If we want a better world, we have to make it ourselves.” Alice Walker, Taking The Arrow Out Of The Heart.   This is a book to remember all I can’t forget. Ever. That sense you can make a better … Continued

  “One of the processes of your life is to constantly break down that inferiority, to constantly reaffirm that I Am Somebody.” Alvin Ailey   Town has a post-war feel. You are looking around to see who has survived? Who’s … Continued

  “Some fools don’t know what’s right from wrong But somehow those folks belong Me, I try for all I’m worth But I still remain a stranger on this earth Some people gloom, other folk cry Me, I have to … Continued

  “Her going did not so much make me lonely as make me realise how lonely we were.” ‘Jimmy’, James Baldwin on the passing of Lorraine Hansberry   It’s been extra hard to distil my thoughts in chaos. I’ve joked … Continued

  “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” Alice Walker   As I write to the stings of Zoë Keating – I walk the beach. It’s where my best ideas flow. … Continued

  “I never met any of my friends, of course, in a usual way—they were strangers, and lived only in their writings.” Mary Oliver, from ‘My Friend Walt Whitman’   There are so many conversations at once. It’s a din … Continued

  Well, enough of slump, enough of Old Story. Like a clean spear of fire I am moving. I am not still. I am ready to be ready. I shall flail in the Hot Time. Extract of ‘THE NEAR-JOHANNESBURG BOY’ … Continued