ON BEING TIRESOME

on September 14, 2006
Category: Blogosphere

“have been outed as a white non-African (see the comment near the bottom headlined ‘Strike’). Photographic evidence of my whiteness has been posted.

This is all part of an incredibly tiresome “controversy” about the skin colours and ethnic backgrounds of people speaking at a blogging conference in Grahamstown, South Africa today and tomorrow. (Rush over at 3.30pm on Friday to hear me tell all about photo-blogging.)

If you believe me, I will be talking about the blogging scene in Africa to a mixed audience of like-minded people drawn from across the continent, from Egypt in the north to South Africa in the south (warning, some of the South Africans will also be white).

If you believe Sokari, I will be just another “big white chief” addressing an audience “full of eager black faces looking intently at the white chiefs for guidance”.

She illustrates her rant with a cartoon of a pink-skinned pig. Nice.”

Dear Mr Incredibly Tiresome

Did I miss something because I thought outing was “publicly disclosing personal characteristics, such as political affiliation (sexual persuasion) or religion, that someone wishes to keep secret”. What! are you now telling me that all this time you have been pretending to be something other than a white English man and you really are a Black Ethiopian? Because if you have then I have to apologise because outing someone is the pits - its a horrible horrible thing to do to anybody.

Race! Race, ethnicity are always so, oh, INCREDIBILY TIRESOME, so DREARY for white people. I mean it really is just a fucking pain in the backside. After all we live in a world of multicoloured rainbows with like minded people just trying to get along and here comes one African woman who lets pigs fly and takes issue with big white chiefs standing in for their “coloured” sisters/brethren. STOP IT - STOP talking about colour, race, white, black, ethnicity, nationality. Mr English journalist blogger is tired of the CONTROVERSY around skin colour and ethnic background at a conference on blogging in Africa? Who are you to stand there and tell me I am TIRESOME AND TO QUESTION YOUR PRESENCE IS CONTROVERSIAL? What are you doing there instead of an Ethiopian blogger, a Ghanaian blogger, a Democratic Republic of Congo blogger, a White African blogger? What is it you have to say in your imaginary colour blind world? What is it you have been doing for the sisters/brethren? Do you think you can just flickR aside criticism and have your silence? By all means disagree with what I have to say but DISMISS as TIRESOME?. No, Mr Ingiland, pigs will fly before you dismiss skin colour and ethnicity as TIRESOME!

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25 Comments so far

1. alexcia

September 15th, 2006 at 3:34 am

@ meskel

“Rush over at 3.30pm on Friday to hear me tell all about photo-blogging.”

If you have something to say please say it now, i beg you.

I don’t know if your were told but many of the black africans were not really “personally” invited — see someone knew we would not be able to afford the trip and did not want to embarrass us—how thoughtful.
We have no way to “rush over at 3.30pm ( we also don’t know what 3:30pm SA time is in our villages, see we don’t keep south african time)

2. Sokari

September 15th, 2006 at 4:04 am

I wonder what Mary Fields (aka shotgun Mary) would say about all of this

3. brownfemipower

September 15th, 2006 at 4:28 am

haha! I don’t think she’d say anything sokari, i think she’d just shoot.

but I did post a comment over there, I’m waiting to be approved. kind of ironic, no?

but I agree with you completely, isn’t it quite a little privilege to say “how tiresome” when the problem is YOU. I wonder how tiresome it is to feel great about “saving” those poor little africans from themselves?

and i especially like your point about “Mr English journalist blogger is tired of the CONTROVERSY around skin colour and ethnic background at a conference on blogging in Africa?” I mean, how much more ignorant could that be? Who would be dictating what is being talked about at this little conference?

gr.

4. Jikomboe » Digital Indaba imeleta balaa - 3

September 15th, 2006 at 9:22 am

[…] Sasa msome mwanablogu Mwanachi (Yote ni Yangu, Nchi!) anayesema, “Indaba This, Indaba That.” Bonyeza hapa. Kisha nenda kwa Alexcia anayesema: Digital “Indaba” Controversy. Bonyeza hapa. Halafu nenda kwa Meskel Square anayesema “Fair Cop.” Bofya hapa. Na Sokari Ekina kupitia blogu ya Black Looks anamjibu Andrew Heavens wa Meskel Square akisema, “On Being Tiresome.” Bofya hapa. […]

5. Clair

September 15th, 2006 at 9:40 am

Coming late to this conversation I wonder to myself what this organisation is that is touting for big chiefs to monitor the world (jobs for the boys?)…sounds like the CIA to me…or am I just too tiresomely cynical?

6. Clair

September 15th, 2006 at 9:57 am

OK now I’ve caught up…almost wish I hadn’t…why oh why are the majority of the speakers MEN? Couldn’t they have tried harder? what century are they living in? because its not the one the rst of us inhabit……oh sorry silly me, they tried but they couldn’t find any!

7. alexcia

September 15th, 2006 at 12:23 pm

apparently i cannot reach my blog.
what a gwan.
Cannot anyone get alexcia.blogspot.com

Alexcia

8. Sokari

September 15th, 2006 at 12:44 pm

No - but I think its an Indaba conspiracy!

9. alexcia

September 15th, 2006 at 12:53 pm

the site are now online
sorry guys.
that was a scare

10. Emeka

September 15th, 2006 at 1:35 pm

Nice blog,
I am a new niija blogger and i do visit this blog 4 inspiration.
to introduce my blog, i am calling 4 a meme writing, will u visit my blog and join the discussion, u will love it.

11. mshairi

September 15th, 2006 at 2:57 pm

Sokari, I don’t get it.

* The Indaba is supposedly on ‘African’ bloggers
* The Meskel Square chap is a British journalist (although he blogs from Ethiopia) and yet he is invited to the Indaba while other African bloggers, blogging from the continent and outside are not invited for whatever reason
* Sokari, an African woman and one of the best bloggers we have, IMO, questions the injustice of this
* The chap writes a breathtakingly insulting post as a result

I just don’t get it!

12. caleb

September 15th, 2006 at 3:53 pm

Sokari,
What is the matter wit you? Haven’t had any lately?
You are ranting and raving at Andrew. Hell has done nothing to warrant this pile on…lower the decibel sista

13. msaniixl

September 15th, 2006 at 4:15 pm

Caleb that is you all got from the post? that she has been in lacking in the sex dept.? you my friend are a tool..and no the sharpest one neither

14. Black River Eagle

September 18th, 2006 at 1:51 pm

Race and skin color and all of that stuff will always be an issue of contention between people looking for differences between one another. It is important to understand the roles that racial discrimination and hatred and violence have played in the history of humankind, but it is even more important that we learn to rise above discrimination of any kind as we seek our rightful place in this world.

What Andrew of Meskel Square needs to do is try to understand that decades of discrimination and violence against black Africans in every aspect of life on the African continent and in Europe makes “race” a hot button issue in just about everything that you do. Black Africans want and deserve equal opportunities and equal representation in matters that affect them, a concept that is still “foreign” for many Europeans.

On the other hand, black Africans should be very, very careful not to exclude people that are actively and diligently working to help solve the many problems facing people in Africa, irregardless of their race or ethnicity or religion. You cannot combat racism and prejuidice by behaving like a racist yourself.

15. Jay Sennett

September 18th, 2006 at 5:50 pm

to paraphrase msaniixl, I think mr. tiresome is a tool.

isn’t it funny how habitually people respond when you break in on their continuously playing head tape of “memememem its all about mememememe.”

sheesh.

16. jaywalking: cartoons about a way of life

September 18th, 2006 at 9:34 pm

Me v. 358743…

Inspired by brownfemipower and sokari.[This image is free to you. Use it in good health.]……

17. Bev Clark

September 19th, 2006 at 2:37 pm

Way to go Sokari

18. Betty

September 20th, 2006 at 9:04 pm

this entry alone has inspired me to stop caring about your stupid blog

19. Sokari

September 20th, 2006 at 9:10 pm

Whoever you are rest assured you will not be missed!

20. Link Roundup « The Angry Black Woman

September 21st, 2006 at 9:08 pm

[…] Sokari, the cause of his upset, sets out to upset him more: Race, ethnicity are always so, oh, INCREDIBILY TIRESOME, so DREARY for white people. I mean it really is just a fucking pain in the backside. After all we live in a world of multicoloured rainbows with like minded people just trying to get along and here comes one African woman who lets pigs fly and takes issue with big white chiefs standing in for their “coloured” sisters/brethren. STOP IT - STOP talking about colour, race, white, black, ethnicity, nationality. Mr English journalist blogger is tired of the CONTROVERSY around skin colour and ethnic background at a conference on blogging in Africa? […]

21. Kevin

September 22nd, 2006 at 3:13 am

Yes. Yes. And Yes again.

The nerve of some people never ceases to amaze me.

22. Grandiose Parlor » Blog Archive » The Future of the African Blogosphere

September 23rd, 2006 at 2:40 am

[…] To those that don’t know about the Digital Citizens Indaba, the first blogging conference in Africa, too bad, it is already over. Though I wasn’t there - I didn’t know about the conference until two days before its commencement! But not that it would have mattered because I doubt if I would have attended anyway. Well, the event is over, just as the controversy it generated before and during its commencement. […]

23. Professor Zero

September 24th, 2006 at 9:34 am

…black Africans should be very, very careful not to exclude people that are actively and diligently working to help solve the many problems facing people in Africa…

I don’t quite know why. What if all that energy invested in making sure the Europeans are comfortable, were invested in something else? I’m not saying, make ‘em uncomfortable, but why should Europeans get such special care?

24. Sokari

September 24th, 2006 at 11:17 am

The main point of this post is to point out the language used by Andrew Havens in referring to “discussions on skin colour and ethnicity” as “tiresome” and to my questioning his presence at what is described as an “African blogging event” as “controversial”. This is white liberal self-righteous arrogance and racism at its best.