The new seasons of THE YARD Radio show are set and ready to go. We are now taking GREEN CARPET bookings via info@theyardradio.com, you can also send show ideas to that address.
We have some great guests lined up for you, amazing events, and so much more. Follow our tweets @theyardradio and just to hold you over, here’s a clip from our vault. Its Episode one, Season 3, in Hampton. Scroll to the 5min mark and hear the chat about tipping. Its classic, enjoy.
She was in class, surreptitiously checking e-mail, when she found out that the show’s producers were following her on Twitter and loved her song. She tried not to scream out loud. More recently they closed the deal, paying her $300 for the right to use “A Daughter’s Lament” on the gag-reel disc within the set.
One of the most difficult things I have had to cope with and learn to understand here in South Africa is race relations. After years of being the only Black girl in class and then maturing at Spelman, I have a clear sense of my identity and where I fit in socially… in the United States.
When I walked up to the library on the first day of school, I literally almost fell down when I saw “Blacks Only” and “Whites Only” signs on the library door. I was immediately offended, thinking that UCT was negligent in removing pre-1994 apartheid labeling. After talking to the students, I found out that these signs were actually an effort to promote unity and show how far South Africa has come from its hyper-racial apartheid history.
Race, race relations, stereotypes, and resulting spatial and health disparities are much more in your face here in Cape Town than I am used to. The downside of that is that people often out rightly made synonyms of Black/poor and White/rich. Conversely, the grand upside is that discrimination is discussed, not taboo, and not as subtle as in the US. I am refreshed to see white South Africans waving the new flag everywhere I go and I sadly reminisce about the Confederate flags still flapping all over the US south.
Segregation signs in front of UCT Library
During the first few weeks I got into several fights…well discussions…about my race. I am Black to me and in the United States. Here, instead of Black I classify as Coloured. Someone actually said to me, “Your eyes are hazel. You are Coloured. Black people have black eyes.” I was initially offended with my “Black Power coming back to the Motherland” self. But now that I have been here for a few more weeks, I have grown to understand that the historical environment here is just different. I need to stop thinking through my United States hegemony.
So, what is Coloured anyway you ask? The category is vast. Anyone with racial mixing in their ancestry counts as Coloured. During apartheid, they were their own separate “race” apart from Black, white, and Indian. The hierarchy during apartheid went White, Coloured, Indian, and finally African/Black. The de jure segregation during apartheid has caused these people of mix ancestry to grow to have their own unique culture and stereotypes.
Selfishly and superficially, I think one of the best things about being part of Coloured category is that all makeup selections take me into account. If you are a light-skinned Black person, take a trip to South Africa and visit MAC. All of the she shades come in half shades!! It’s GREAT! Stupid me bought an extra compact thinking I wasn’t going to find my color or a MAC store around here. What I really needed to do before I left was read a South African history book.
Although I am beginning to understand life in South Africa from a South African point of view, what I really want to do is slap up a sign that says “ALL RACES LOVED, VALUED, AND WELCOME” and put on a shirt that says “Forever Black.”
