South Africa has a strange tendency to put total opposites in the international spotlight. Bad boy Paul Kruger, a Boer hero who fought both the imperialist British and the country's original inhabitants, thrilled thousands of Dutch supporters in the early 1900s. Freedom fighters like Nelson and Winnie Mandela, Archbishop Tutu, or white human rights lawyer Bram Fischer inspired international solidarity movements decades later with their principled struggle against racism and oppression. Athlete Caster Semenya, barred from the Olympic track for being “a different kind of woman”, makes the hearts of countless sports fans beat faster. Comedian Trevor Noah makes crowded halls around the world roar with laughter.
And recently another South Africa-born hotshot, the owner of one of the most toXic social media platforms, is attracting quite a bit of attention. We're talking about Elon Musk, the richest man in the world. There is no better proof that if you grew up in white privilege, you can achieve anything! He is, we understand, now worth over $200 billion. A hefty starting capital with which to create a just world.
But money, however important, is not the crowbar with which you enforce such a world. It is ideas and ideals. Like those of the legal minds who bring the aggression against Gaza before the International Court of Justice. Of the trans daughter wresting herself from the clutches of her wealthy father. Of investigative journalists in countries like Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria feeding the Gen Z resistance for change with information. From Mandela, Tutu, Trevor, and Caster. Spread those ideas! Digest, share, and inject them into the mouthpieces of the haters.
