This is a long overdue review of one of those essential companions for making this city your friend. Chic Jozi [by my friend Nikki Temkin] was first published in 2009 and has now been updated. It opens with the disclaimer: “Joburg is notorious for being a fickle and fast-changing city. Stores open and close all the time, change location and name …” Too true and the reason why impulse buying is key to survival here, as one minute that covetable item is in that window and the next day that building has been demolished to make way for another mall. (more…)
June 8, 2011
Short URL Alexis Carrington, Chic Jozi, fashion, guide, Hospitality/Recreation, Hyde Park corner, joburg, Johannesburg, LA's Beverley Centre, mall, Melville store Reminiscence, Nikki Temkin, Northern suburbs, Rosettenville, shopping
Had to point you to a must-read comment piece on the phenomenon of “Coconuts” that caused a stir in the twitterverse today. If you are not familiar with the term it’s a derogatory label for black people who are thought to have sold out being black by not being black enough. This sounds complicated I know. So I will leave it to Lerato Tshabalala, my former Sunday Times Lifestyle compadre, to explain and tell it like it is.
A fascinating, smart and funny piece of commentary on South Africa’s post-apartheid generation.
“As I’m sure you’ve noticed, dear reader, I’m black. I know this because my parents are black, both my siblings are black and should I forget that, whenever I turn around, my ATM (African Trade Mark), reminds me that I was definitely at the front of the queue when God was handing out thighs and behinds.
But even with all this strong evidence, it appears that my “blackness” has come into question several times. (more…)
June 5, 2011
Short URL Alanis Morissette, coconuts, column, columnist, commentary, Lerato Tshabalala, post-apartheid, race, racial politics, South Africa, Sting, Sunday-Times, TimesLive, U2, Urban Miss
