Jacques Depelchin
Submitted by Abahlali_3 on Sat, 2009-10-24 11:26.
haiti | Jacques Depelchin | Ota Benga Alliance | The Attack on AbM in Kennedy Road Click here to read Jacques Depelchin's first three letters on the attack on Abahlali baseMjondolo.
Dearest Friends,
Like many people in South Africa and around the world, I am still stunned by what has been done to the people living at the Kennedy Road Settlement in Durban.
From 2005, AbM seems to have managed to overcome many obstacles, but, or so it seems, it has not been able (yet) to overcome the biggest one, namely appearing to be giving a lesson in emancipatory politics to the ANC.
Since assuming power, it seems that there are members of the ANC who seem to have forgotten the role played by ALL the people, but especially, the poorest of the poorest, in propelling the ANC to power. This forgetting could have lethal consequences, not just for the PoPs, but also for every citizen in South Africa and beyond. In the history of emancipatory politics, from slavery to today, the enslaved, the colonized, by definition, must never ever free themselves. Should they try and, worst of all, succeed, those in power shall quickly “put them back into their place”. In retribution, more often than not, this trespassing act, or so considered by those in power was followed by the most severe of punishments, preceded, if necessary, by torture. Since 2005, AbM has been giving lessons on emancipatory politics to a party in power which, directly or indirectly, claims to be the only one to know how to bring about emancipatory politics. Other historical examples are too numerous to list, but let us start with one of the most notorious:
Submitted by Abahlali_3 on Sun, 2009-10-11 10:14.
Alberto Toscano | Bruno Bosteels | Corey Robin | Ernesto Laclau | Greg Grandin | Jacques Depelchin | Nigel Gibson | Noam Chomsky | Peter Hallward | Slavoj Zizek | The Attack on AbM in Kennedy Road | Todd May | William I. Robinson Statement in support of Abahlali baseMjondolo
9 October 2009
The South African shack-dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) is an egalitarian, democratic organisation dedicated to the self-empowerment and self-education of thousands of disadvantaged people. We the undersigned support the resolve of AbM activists to play a leading part in the determination of their own future, and to help make, rather than suffer, public decisions about housing, land, and development. We condemn all acts of violence and intimidation against AbM members and the residents of South Africa's informal settlements. We condemn any participation or collusion of the government and police in the recent assault against AbM leaders and their families, and in the destruction of their homes and offices. We call on the government to do all that is required to repair the damage done in recent weeks, and to protect AbM activists and settlement residents from any future violence; we note in particular the repeated death threats against AbM President S'bu Zikode and Vice President Mashumi Figlan. We call on the ANC to respect and facilitate, rather than discourage, popular participation in the governing of South Africa.
Submitted by Abahlali_3 on Sat, 2009-10-10 16:26.
Jacques Depelchin | The Attack on AbM in Kennedy Road In solidarity with Abahlalibase Mjondolo (AbM) 1
Dear Friends, Foes and all those in between,
Before May 2008, we only knew of Abahlalibase Mjondolo. (AbM), then in May 2008, we met members of AbahalalibaseMjondolo, at the Kennedy Road Settlement. Each one spoke, expressing in various ways the meaning of emancipatory politics; and then, the next day, we met again with S’bu Zikode, the President of AbM.
After he described the situation in which they were living, we asked what was the way out. “Healing” he responded.
Given the coordinated attacks against the Kennedy Road Settlement of the AbM, given the silence from the authorities, given what the AbM have gone through before. Questions arise. These are questions, not affirmations, not speculation, not insinuations.
Submitted by Abahlali_3 on Mon, 2009-12-28 09:09.
Jacques Depelchin | Ota Benga Alliance | poem | The Attack on AbM inKennedy Road http://otabenga.org/node/180
On Christmas Day, but it could be any day
by Jacques Depelchin
Reading about what has happened at Kennedy Road Settlement in Durban makes me wonder. More like wondering and wandering from society to society, from places in history and geography. Has capitalism become the greatest laundering scheme, the greatest organized gang?
Going back to some of the most predatory roots of capitalism, one finds children split from their families by the slave hunters. That was the beginning of the splitting of humanity. A splitting apart long before Chinua Achebe saw it with the arrival of the colonizers in Things Fall Apart. In spite of the endless onslaught, healing has been going on, more often than not unseen, unheard of among the pharisaic promoters/distributors of pacifying rewards.
Submitted by Abahlali_3 on Thu, 2009-04-30 08:16.
Jacques Depelchin | Motala Heights | poem | poem How hard must one scream when injustice
is committed with the support of those
who are supposed to stand up
against injustice?
Has humanity's conscience been
eradicated? What happened to the voices which
were nurtured in Robben Islands?
What makes them so quiet today?
Is it that so many injustices have been committed
with impunity that punishment
of the poorest of the poor
has become the law of
the richest of the rich?
And to be done using
Legal Aid services meant
for the poorest of the poor?
Is it that the richest of the rich
have become so powerful
that they have decided to treat
Submitted by Abahlali_3 on Sun, 2008-12-07 13:03.
food | Jacques Depelchin | Pambazuka Hungry for a voice: The food crisis, the market, and socio-economic inequality
Jacques Depelchin (2008-12-04)
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/52480
In an article exploring the history of socio-economic inequality, Jacques Depelchin calls for an interpretation of the current food crisis over the historical longue durée. As a direct consequence of an entrenched, centuries-old capitalist system, the author argues, the market as a 'modernising' force has consistently enriched the lives of a few while impoverishing a poor majority. Understanding the food crisis, Depelchin contends, rests first and foremost on re-considering humanity's relationship to nature and championing historical narratives true to the voices and experiences of the global poorest of the poor.
Submitted by Abahlali_3 on Wed, 2008-05-21 17:05.
haiti | Jacques Depelchin | unfreedom day From Cité Soleil (Haiti) to Durban (South Africa) where Freedom Day is now being seen as Unfreedom Day.
by Jacques Depelchin
April 30-May 4th 2008.
This is a brief report from a visit to Durban, specifically to see for oneself places like Kennedy Road, Motala Heights, to meet with people like S’bu Zikode and Shamita Naidoo whose words continue to impact us in a way which is still generating new thinking. We were on our way to meet people who can be described as the staunchest defenders of the poor, and, by extension, of humanity.
Driving with Pauline from Maputo to Durban reminded her of her native lands in the Caribbean: sugar plantations after sugar plantations. However, for her, that was the 50s. Now, this was 2008, in the Province of Kwazulu-Natal, where Jacob Zuma, the newly elected President of the ANC, comes from. For those who do not know, it is worth remembering, in the name of always connecting the dots, that President Jean Bertrand Aristide presented a thesis in linguistics at the University of South Africa (Unisa) comparing Isizulu and Creol. I am still reading the thesis which can be found on line and downloaded. It was presented in November 2006. I hope and pray that President JBA does get invited/encouraged to visit the place from where so many Haitians originally have came: DRC. We could then look forward to another comparative thesis on Kikongo and Creol and another step in the process of reconnecting those who should never ever been separated from each other
Submitted by Abahlali_3 on Fri, 2007-12-14 14:48.
essay | Jacques Depelchin | Pamabazuka http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/44949
The routes and possibilities of a South - South subversive globalization: Africa and Brazil
Jacques Depelchin (2007-12-11)
Jacques Depelchin reflects on the growing economic, political and cultural relationship between Brazil and the Africa and urges for a solidarity from below that is cognizant of black revolutionary history.
Almost everyone knows about Brazilian football, especially Pelé; but, it is a fair bet that a very tiny percentage of the same people will know about one of the foremost intellectuals of Brazil in the 20th century: Milton Santos (MS), winner in 1994 of the Vautrin Lud prize given to the most outstanding geographer (sometimes known as the nobel prize for geography). Others have described him as the Noam Chomsky of Brazil. One could go on with the accolades. Thanks to a recent documentary (directed by Silvio Tendler) on and around his ideas, MS’ reputation (1925-2001) is likely to gain greater recognition among Brazilians as they begin to realize how far ahead his visionary understanding of humanity’s plight and challenges was.
Submitted by Abahlali_3 on Sun, 2007-09-30 17:44.
email | Jacques Depelchin | protest Dearest People,
I could not resist responding to your statement. In particular the words about helping the Church being the Church. It is also teaching the politicians that politics is completely different from their politics.
Thank you for showing the entire world that the poor do count even more than the rich might ever have guessed. Thank you for showing that humanity as seen, felt, breathed by any living body, poor, rich, sick, well, wounded, must be respected, nurtured as though it was a jewel.
Thank you for reminding those in power that power can blind so badly that it could easily lead them to kill without knowing what they are doing.
Submitted by Abahlali_3 on Mon, 2007-09-24 20:54.
Jacques Depelchin | open letter OPEN LETTER TO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT NAYAGER
P.O. Box 19080
Dormeton 4015
OR
3MC CAFFERTY RD
SYDENHAM 4014
SOUTH AFRICA
Sydenham-saps@saps.org.za
Dear Mr. Nayager,
Forgive me for taking your time, but I felt that, given what I have heard about you and what is going on there, I had to do everything possible to reach you in a way that, maybe, just maybe, no one has been able to do. Moreover even if others have tried, and been rebuked and/or not listened to, given the gravity of what I hear, I should nevertheless give a try to reach out to you.
I am doing this because despite all of the suffering you are alleged to have inflicted to the poor, to the Shackdwellers in Durban, I am certain that deep inside you there is a side which does tell you that the beating, the harassment, the insults, the threats of inflicting worse punishment, there is a voice deep from within you which keeps telling you to do otherwise.
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