With international protests reaching a fever pitch since Covid-19 took over our lives, the first edition of J-Warra Warra ( #the protest issue ) will page through the worst, the best and the most effective protests. Among some that we profile, you will read about #endsars, #blacklivesmatter, Remember Marikana, Legalize It, LaSapeurs and more.
We read about the very first protest in Philistia in 1120 B.C.E., some of the old-skool toi-tois that led to change and the last 2 years of crazy, worldwide, steek uit kind of protests.
We profile the biggest players in the world of protesting and analyse their game. Different arts and culture movements set the scene and we learn that serious issues don't start on the street. That is normally the last option. We take a look how to argue your point to the world and initiate sustainable change.
Different movements such as Civil Disobedience and Passive Resistance have paved the way to our current state.
Since The Struggle days, song and dance was used to keep us upbeat and in the zone to face police, the military and whoever else was tasked to keep us quiet; when THEY steek uit. Nowadays is no different. We list some of our favourite protest numbas and music videos, movies and plays. We also discover that aside from the usual music and movie method, there are the most innovative protests that can only be described as methods of madness.
The last 2 years saw a lot of arrests, people injured and killed and property destroyed, looted and burnt to ashes. This is what you call Anarchy. Read our piece on the mayhem that is sometimes necessary, when the system is stiflingly oppressive. Once the more peaceful methods have been exhausted and gone unheard, Anarchy becomes the only natural course of action. Amongst the precursory paths to Anarchy, we find poor/protest theatre, social media hashtag movements, murals or tagging and performance art. Fashion has also become the analogous middle finger. Read about Papa Wemba's anti-xeniphobic fashion movement LaSapeurs. We also have a look at 'Stomach in, chest out' that was born of Julius Malema and the political party he founded, the EFF and the South African music trend that took parliamentary sound samples to the music charts and beyond.
If you were planning a protest, read the guidelines to plan the most legal and most effective protest. Find also the so-called tools of the trade. We have an online guide to protesting by Right2Know.
Restorative justice is also an emerging form of protest, which can be applied liberally. A good example of this is an endeavour to be launched soon, in which a white chick takes on the cases of many horses that were confiscated by the Cart Horse Association, for a plethora of reasons. Amongst them, genuine cases of animal cruelty are abundant, which nobody is arguing. Unfortunately, though, other less culpable cases fell by the wayside and disappeared through the cracks of the system.
For instance, it's quite easy caring for a horse when you are a white person, who grew up owning dressage horses or attending a horse riding school on weekends etc. Many cart horse owners of colours inherited their horses from uncles, parents, employers or the skollie who picked one up on the way home from a farm burglary. The fact is that many of these owners lost their horses due to a lack of working knowledge regarding horse care.
Due to a lack of access to professionals like farriers, cartwrights, vets and leathermakers, the whole system is designed to create situations in which cart horse owners lose their horse, as the result of a the ashes left behind by the Apartheid Regime. There is a remedy in which people of colour can become proficient horsemen, be accredited to perform any function within the equestrian world, have access to lucrative careers and businesses through a model that requires nothing, from both people of colour and whites, but the desire to see real change.
And by change I mean change that will satisfy the pockets of former scrap cart horse operators , the law and Cart Horse Association as well as be the best for the horse, it's health, it's desperate need to work, be outdoors and socialize with the world. A equal profit share model that will equip cart horse operators with paid training amongst veterans in the horse world, earning badges that qualify the individual with specific skills that are in demand in the industry but will also acclimatise the student with horse sense. Having access to clients committed to climate change, sustainable revenue, office support, app support, connection to the internet, paid-for grazing areas in the vicinity and financial tools such as eWallets, cash sends, online banking etc. as well as access to professionals, who will equip the encumbant with a newly made cart, buggy, carriage etc, tack that fits the horse, cart and work and horse care professionals on an ongoing basis.
Due to the many cases of real horse abuse, encumbants must do a few weeks training, initially at a horse rescue centre, learning about the effects of abuse.
PROTEST CHALLENGE: AFTER ALL THAT INFO, WE CHALLENGE YOU TO COME UP WITH A PROTEST, USING ANY MEDIA TO CHALLENGE SOMETHING THAT NAGS AWAY AT YOUR CONSCIENCE.
" THE TIME IS NOW. I WANT EVERYTHING".
- WALE & MEEK MILL AMBITION
It has been a world-weary 2 years since Covid-19 entered our lives but it has been the most progressive period in modern history, globally and inter-continentally. For this effort from each and every one who took out time, made placards and those who stood up against some travesty, from the bottom of hearts of those who are still in the Struggle, our brothers and sisters, I thank you. And I thank you.
I AM LOOKING FOR A BODY TO PARTNER WITH, AS I WOULD LIKE THIS PUBLICATION TO BE DISTRIBUTED FREE IN PRISONS, AT POLICE STATIONS, TRANSLATED AND SENT TO REFUGEE CAMPS IN AFRICA AND TO BE AVAILABLE ONLINE.
There are also a few corporate deals in the mix, such as free stuff with the rag, a financial service and competitions to be managed. Advertising space will be available. I have a company in mind for the sales of advertising space and printing, distribution etc.
The theme of the rag is definitely human rights so the EFF, Right2Know, Amnesty International and so on would be ideal. Why am I thinking aloud again?