October 5, 2009
I woke up this morning feeling sad. It took me a while to figure out why, and I still don’t know the fullness, but I realised Eric was on my mind. I probably had a dream about him that I do not remember. Eric was one of the first kids I met living on the streets of the Claremont area when I first moved to Cape Town back in 2000. We had become close. He was also the first kid, of now many, that I knew who passed away, in 2001.
He was such a lively kid; full of joy, life, fun, continuous laughter. It is always sad to lose someone who is dear to you, but what made Eric’s loss even harder was the fact that his death was a “freak accident” in a drop-in centre that was new at the time, and in self preservation the leaders of the shelter kept Eric’s death on a very low level.
Adrian, Me & Eric
Adrian, Me & Eric
Adrian, Me & Eric
I miss Eric, and others like him who have died tragic deaths here on the streets of Cape Town. Even when I look into the eyes of the living, the older guys that were the younger guys when i first moved here, I feel the same sense of loss that I feel when I think about Eric. Because though they may be living, the lively children I once knew are very far gone, and their eyes tell the story of having seen too much, too fast, for way too long.
And above and beyond Eric, others who have passed away, and the guys that have grown up too fast, I think this morning I woke up mourning the death of parts of myself. I look back on my early years here and see such a different person. I have changed a lot; for the good and bad, and I am pretty in touch with both sides. But on a nostalgic-driven monday morning like today, I wish I could travel back in time, just for a visit, and say “what’s up” to Eric, all the others I have lost, the kids that are now “all grown up”, and my ten-years-younger self.
originally posted on http://365daysofactivism.blogspot.com
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Posted by capetownbrown
October 2, 2009
For many years now I have heard people in the hiphop culture complaining because Oprah neglects successful African American rappers and never has them on her show. She had Ludacris on when he acted in Crash, and Kanye on to speak about his car accident, but Oprah is pretty open about how she despises rap and the rap culture.
This is understandable because, indeed, many rappers are still talking about drugs, violence, gangsterism. They use the “N word” (as Oprah put it), are derogatory towards women and are generally not the best role models. But many have however come from grassroots to great wealth and feel that Oprah should acknowledge this. Many still asked why she never had Jay Z on her show because his wealth extends much farther than just rap, as he is involved in several business ventures (yes, all legal).
Well, the moment finally arrived and Oprah had Jay Z on her show. I watched the interview on Youtube with a fifteen-year-old kid who was over at my house. In little intro blurb Oprah always does about her guests she mentioned that Jay Z makes 1 billion dollars a year, from his music alone! This does not include money made from his clothing line, other artists on his label, cologne line, ownership in the Nets (NBA basketball team), or any of his other big endorsements. That’s 1 billion dollars off his music alone!
The kid watching with me sat wide-eyed at that statement, but I saw he was still not grasping the fullness of how much money 1 billion dollars is. I asked him if he knew how much that was and he said enough for an entire lifetime. I said it was enough for several lifetimes. So, to put it into perspective for him I asked him what his favorite expensive car is. He said Lamborghini. I Googled the price of a 2009 Lamborghini. They are going for only 1,600,000 U.S. dollars. I divided 1 billion dollars by the price of one Lamborghini and well,
That means Jay Z could buy 625 brand new Lamborghinis a year, just on money from his music alone! That put things into perspective for both me and the kid!
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Posted by capetownbrown
