Mick Beyers: Brandon I enjoyed
your column on slacktivism however it left me wondering whether
you perfected your personal practice during the writing of your
thesis? I find myself becoming increasingly sophisticated in
all forms of slacktivism including the refinement of ebay pursuits.
Are you aware that ebay exists at the very coalface of historic
preservation in that items of great cultural significance appear
for sale? As I continue with the thesis writing I find myself
increasingly concerned with such matters...!! I hope you and
your family are doing well, BEST Mick (posted 11/04/06) |
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Molebatsi:
I
beg to slightly differ with your conclusions on President Thabo
Mbeki`s state of the nation address as I am of the opinion that
you don`t have to be controversial to get the country trying.Moreso
a forever thinking country such as South Africa.Such an approach
might even divert attention from issues that would take the
country forward. My reading of Mbeki`s speech revealed balance
and touch with the realities confronting the country.This was
a following from the ANC`s January 8 statement which is released
annually to reflect on the past year and set the tone for the
current. |
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Paul: tread softly on january
24 brandon....it was the day, many moons ago, where Tess, daughter
of James and Maude,gave birth to Paul who writes this email.
A fine day to be born! |
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Janine Magidman: The column
on symbols of the past, examples given of Nazi memorabilia,
was especially fascinating. Thank you. Later this week teachers
from my high school in Seattle, Washington, are leading two
groups of students overseas, one group to Capetown, one to Belfast.
One of our subjects of study is the power of symbol and ritual
in defining and identifying communities. What power and/or fascination
will sports pennants from, for example, Glasgow Celtics and
Rangers hold 50 years from now - certainly not to draw any connection
to the horrors of Nazism, but to ponder the power of colors
and symbols in our world. |
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Molebatsi: I thought i would
waltz through in a rush but ended up spending over an hour.The
site is quite informative and will definitely come back soon. |
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openDemocracy: From Angola
to Somalia, Rwanda to Zimbabwe, conflict and poverty scar Africa.
But Africans everywhere are investing huge energies in search
of democratic change and social betterment. openDemocracy writers
examine the new worlds of an old continent. Please add a link.[I
have added a link to openDemocracy on the 'Links Page'~BH] |
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GP: In reference to the article
"In my day, young people had respect..." posted on
Weblog 25/07/05: How can young people with a 'label' take part
in the democratic process when the labels they live by creates
the blindness to self awareness and keeps them on the margins?
GP |
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Jason
Donaghy:
Having read a number of your articles relating to the post-conflict
situation in Northern Ireland and the need for a more expansive
view in terms of societal involvement and and timeframe involved
beyond that of a post-agreement framework, I wish they (those
responsible for constructing the PEACE Programme)had your insight
and intellect many years earlier in the determination of the
peace process 'process'. I applaud you in your challenging of
the assumptions upon which most if not all of our peace and
reconciliation work is based on. We need to take the long view
and wider societal involvement and realise that this work must
be mainstreamed North and South and, not seen as something that
is done purely because there is funding from Europe. It won't
be a core issue until its core funded. |
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Jason Donaghy: Interestingly,
one of the findings that has surprised me is the lack of a Southern
perspective (or silence) in the Republic of Ireland within communities
in terms of the impact of the Troubles on them, as well as their
need for support and tools and, the need to be involved and
the taking of responibility in building the "normailised"
society so often talked about. It appears that there is two
parallel languages of peace building in the North and the South.
In addressing the North South reconciliation issue, I feel that
we need to share and colloborate in the development of a shared
language that allows both communities within both jurisdications
to come to the table with process capacity in order to address
content with the greatest efficacy. Thank you for your superb
analysis and opening my eyes to some pertinent issues. Kind
regards Jason Donaghy |
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Kathy Benavides: Thanks again
for sending me your 2 articles on South African-Northern Irish
lesson drawing. Fingers crossed I recieved a decent mark. Hope
to see you next time you are in York and looking forward to
future articles. Great website by the way. Shine Brightly (posted
02/05/2005). |
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Shannen: I'm a huge fan of
all of your poetry, plus this piece, which is also amazing!
I first stumbled across your poetry whilst looking for a True
Crime Story for a school report, and have loved your work ever
since! Love from your number one fan! (posted 14/04/2005). |
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Wilmer
Molina:
Nice Blog...!!! (posted 22/02/2005). |
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Detlef
Prozesky: I enjoyed your article, which says a lot
that needs to be said. I have found a similar reaction when
confronting British people with scope of the destruction of
the two Boer republics in 1899-1902 ('It was their fault for
trying to resist the British army'). Two additional points:
(1) Churchill's comments seem to be directed more towards Islam
than towards Africans: religious bigotry more that racism. But
then again he referrd to Gandhi as 'a half-naked fakir'. As
you point out that was a common position for Europeans to take
in the first part of the last century - cf. the French who referred
to their occupaton of Indo-China as a 'mission civilisatrice';
and (2) Pres. Mbeki should be careful where he makes speeches
of this kind, even if they are factually correct. The UN has
just said (again) that it finds abundant evidence that the regime
in Khartoum is supporting Arab pogroms against African citizens.
Such a speech from such a prominent leader at such a time in
such a place has the potential to be used by the Khartoum elite
as an excuse for what they are doing (Posted 13/02/2005). |
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Roberto: thanks for your work
on TRC (posted 28/09/2004). |
