In 1652 a small company of employees of the Dutch East India Company were settled on the southern tip of Africa in order to establish a refreshment station for the Company’s ships en route to the Far East. From this group of Dutchmen the Afrikaners were to develop. From 1688 to 1700, they were joined [...]
Tag Archives: Identity
Ngoro right on coloured culture!
PLEASE allow me the opportunity to respond to the article “Ngoro invites Khoisan intellectuals”, which appeared in City Press of August 14. I would like to thank Blackman Ngoro for opening an issue which we as Khoisan rights campaigners have been discussing all along – that coloured people should shed their coloured identity and reclaim [...]
The Coloureds of Southern Africa
The various Coloured communities in southern Africa developed out by events of the Dutch colonization of South Africa. In 1652 a small company of employees of the Dutch East India Company were settled on the southern tip of Africa in order to establish a refreshment station for the Company’s ships en route to the Far [...]
Posted in Identity, People Also tagged Cape Coloured, Colored, Coloured, Multiracial Leave a comment
Egyptians were coloureds!
MYTH: Egyptians were white This is the longest myth ever in existence, which is pedaled as true scholarship and truth. Yet it is an outright myth, deliberately created from 1830 onwards, to explain away Egyptian civilization. During the 1800′s there was all kinds of pseudo-sciences floating around about the genetical and inherent inferiority of peoples [...]
Scatterlings of Africa
Approximately 70,000 years ago, a small fragile group of humans in Africa embarked on a fantastic voyage. They left their mother continent and began a migration to every corner of the planet. As far as we know, they had no map, no compass, and no plan – just perhaps, a deep inner conviction that their [...]
What is a Coloured?
To a biologist, “race” means a very specific thing. It’s essentially a synonym for “variety”, or “sub-species”, and applies, as the name implies, to a portion of a species. Now, defining species is a massively problematic affair, and one that’s never really been settled. Nevertheless, most biologists agree that species are “real” categories, whereas other [...]
Biko’s message of consciousness goes beyond race
In 10 days time, it will be the 30th anniversary of Steve Biko‘s death. What is remarkable when one reads his writings and trial testimony is the lucidity of his thoughts. He uttered these thoughts with such courage and fearlessness it is no wonder the apartheid government felt intense twinges of fear when dealing with him. [...]
Smiling my silence
A little more than a year ago I had to deal with the most trying time in my life. Firstly, I have to concede that in all probability I deserved what I got, retribution for naughty and guilty pleasures, I guess. Betraying the trust that a brother or a friend afford you is not worth [...]
The black woman – with white parents
Sandra Laing was born black, but to white parents. It would have been strange anywhere – but in apartheid South Africa it was disastrous. Long before science learned to meddle with genes, there was Sandra Laing. She entered the world in 1955, a beautiful baby by all accounts, who could be expected to grow up [...]
Posted in History, Identity, Inspiration, Naissance Also tagged Heritage, History, Sandra Laing, Skin 1 Comment
“Let them Speak” Slave Stamouers of South Africa
The early Cape was settled not only by ex-VOC workers who became free burghers and the Huguenots but also by slaves who lost their freedom and was brought to the Cape. To fix a date for the arrival of slaves at the Cape is a variable since we know that slaves were ship wrecked and [...]