Category: Prejudice

Diverse voices exist in literature but are under-represented by trade publishers.

All hail the dawn of self-publishing!

The tragedy of George Floyd’s death in the United States has sparked a resurgence for the recognition of black writers. Read the rumble in the UK here on what the newly found Black Writer’s Guild has initiated.

It is shocking to note that black writers are offered a lower advance to that of their white contemporaries, and editors ask for white or racist characters to be added to books.

As an author of colour, in Australia, I faced the dilemma of whether I should create a neutral non-black pen name to get publishing recognition. But my writing mission is, In our angst and joy, we are ONE under the sky of humanity, which does not support using a pen name and so authenticity prevailed.

My apartheid past in South Africa had stolen the right to feel comfortable in my skin or to dare to speak out against racism. Hence my debut novel Across Time and Space and the sequel Vindication Across Time, present the bald face of racism as a universal disease through my eyes. My third novel, Souls of Her Daughters exposes injustice on multiple levels.

Fear makes one believe that a name that hints at race would be bypassed by publishers and readers. Listen to the words of author Michael La Ronn who articulates the issues black writer’s face in writing and publishing. Note what he says about gaslighting

Racism – Inequality – Injustice – Prejudice – by any name must be caught and called in the books we read, movies we watch and conversations we have

The Zulu word Ubuntu refers to the human spirit as it should be:

I am because we are
humanity towards others
the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity

In writing multicultural stories as I do – the spirit of Ubuntu prevails.

What will you be reading and watching in the renaissance of Black Lives Matter in literature?

I recommend watching the movie In My Country on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa and Rabbit-Proof Fence on Australia’s Stolen Generation.

From the Uncle Tom’s Cabin and beyond, voices have raised the alarm but sadly the call to end racism fell on deaf ears. Now it must be made history, an unforgotten one to remind us that prejudice is heinous and should be obliterated from the stage of life. Diverse voices that are in the main ignored, share why the human condition needs a radical shake-up.

Feel the angst, walk a mile in the shoes of the racially downtrodden – only then will you know the corrosive impact of racism.

The wound of prejudice cuts deep to the soul leaving indelible scars.

But you pick your head up, as you do, to face another day no longer silent especially to subtle bias…

In the wake of the change in 2020 and beyond, walk a mile through these suggestions to know and feel that in our diversity the common factor is that we are emotional beings with the capacity to rectify prejudice by the stories we tell and read.

Here are ten suggestions where diverse voices rip out your heart to sensitise your soul.

Long Walk to Freedom – Nelson Mandela
. My Place -Sally Morgan
Talking to My Country – Stan Grant
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead
Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates
Cry the Beloved Country – Alan Paton
The Power of One – Bryce Courtney
The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison
Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence – Derald Wing Sue

May you write and read stories that share histories to sensitise our souls to dismantle racial bias.

Growing up in apartheid South Africa as a non-white person, living under the Group Areas Act where you only saw people like you with the same coloured skin, living with the knowledge that your people had to be hidden from view — white view — left scarred for life and needing immense strength to shelve the hurt and pain in memory’s hinterland.

This divisive system invites shame — why am I not good enough? Why can’t I eat at that wonderful seaside restaurant? Why can’t I go to a school with its English countryside setting and Victorian buildings? Why am I afraid every time I see a police officer or paddy wagon? Why can’t I lift my eyes above the ground? What have I done to be born black?

Here is why…

Racism is hatred that unleashes a plethora of negativity both ways: Unchecked power that intensifies with acts of brutality that crucifies an already broken self-concept. Systemic injustice — physical, emotional, and psychological feeds the depraved hands of power. How does the victim deal with an enforced erosion of who they are?

Let me tell you…

There are only two ways: head down — mind their manners or take to the streets to protest. Stop! When power strikes up against protest it is obvious that human survival instinct kicks in and violence erupts. Nobody wants violence — justice is all the victim wants — a fair go — it starts out as a peaceful protest, and if left to do just that, no force is necessary. Let the voices crying out for change be heard or it speaks of intolerance to change.

Then somebody cries ‘looters!’

This is why this happens…

The downtrodden are as the words say it, the ‘have-nots’— denied, deprived, shamed, and blamed for all the ills of the land. Human instinct kicks in again and necessity guides reaction/behaviour. Before we cry ‘looting’ investigate what underpins it. Where there’s social inequity the ‘haves’ have ‘looted’ the country for a very long time taking more than they needed — perpetuating inequity.

History tells us that peaceful protests become violent when the hand of power strikes. Decades before Nelson Mandela sat at the helm of government in South Africa, the country was on the brink of civil war and the Sharpeville massacre of 1960 like the Soweto riots of 1976 started out as a call for justice but led to police taking up arms against protesting civilians who wanted their voices heard.

#BlackLivesMatter is a timeless cry for justice from the time of Rudyard Kipling who referred to the people of the African continent as ‘half-devil and half-child, ’ in his 1899 poem, White Man’s Burden.
Colonialism stole the right to justice — a fair go, for original inhabitants of the land. Assimilation — one way or no way denies culture, heritage and the right of recognition.
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Remember those fallen at the hands of racial prejudice — countless — the loved ones of grieving families — too many still dying at the hands of what can be changed…if they are heard.

Listen to this Ted Talk by Amy Thunig: Disruption is not a dirty word that pulls no punches on racism endured by Indigenous Australians in a country I call home.

It’s 2020, and some in the misguided grip of power swim in the quagmire of the barbarism of racial prejudice — educated by book not humane moral code — sure-fire intellect — no emotional intelligence. Silence widens and deepens the stain of prejudice. Speaking out against racism does not always win friends and influence people, but the few who join black brothers and sisters in the fight for justice at the risk of losing their tribe — those are the gems that make #AllLivesMatter, for they will pull together to create liberty, equality and we all need fraternity.

What is your choice to be on #BlackLivesMatter?

Stay safe, speak up against injustice but as John Proctor cried in The Crucible – ‘Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! … leave me my name!’

What do you want to be remembered for?

2020 and Beyond – Voices in Literature

May I tell you?