Eyes T'ward the Sun

(on Rafah, on Darfur, on Meroë)

hello, friends. before i begin, i’d like to speak directly to South Africans: voting season has begun and if there has ever been a time to show up for others, it is now. South Africa has been fundamental in spotlighting Israel’s intergenerational massacre of Palestinians. as we prepare to vote, it is imperative that we think about our Palestinian siblings. it is also vital that we apply a level of discernment, in how we assess and grade the various issues that plague our country. load-shedding is a nightmare. but to vote for the sake of ending it, rather than ending the systemic problems that caused loadshedding in the first place, is a blatant and overlooked example. or, that corruption is a natural trait of a certain party, when the reality is that corruption is a condition of a wounded community (hence, the Prison Industrial Complex et al.).

think critically about how your vote speaks to decades of imperialism and the conditions of that structural violence. challenge yourself to consider that perhaps your beliefs are not what you thought they were. challenge the things you’re hearing. but overall, be reminded that absolutely no governing body can ‘save’ South Africa, especially when they are unwilling to admit their wrongdoings. once we understand this, our votes can be used strategically; to view the process and end in a state of symbiosis and vote with this image in mind. perhaps i’m speaking into a void, but this felt more than necessary to mention, on account of the gale outside.

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in light of Israel closing Rafah’s borders, i’ve made a point of platforming content that will keep Palestine and by liberation proxy, Congo and Sudan within frame. i am well past detailing the plight of brown and black people in 2024. i’m also adamant that the voices who need to be heard right now, will be elevated in the Muscle&Bone. community.

firstly, it is important that we curate historical documentation of what is happening in Rafah and the Western Bank, through items outside of written works. this also applies for Darfur in Sudan and all throughout Congo. language is powerful because we give it power and being able to reconstruct what we’d like to say, by imposing our existence through paintings and graphics, is a firm hand on the neck. as such, i’d like to focus on the works of Leena Ghati, a phenomenal artist, who has used her pieces to showcase the abuse, colonial dialect and misogynoir of Western countries in countries such as South Africa, Yemen, Haiti, Sudan, Congo and Palestine. her focus is intersectional in how we look at liberating these nations and she has advocated justly for an increased approach in liberation on a multilateral level, particularly highlighting the lives of brown and black women and sexual minorities.

‘Nobody is Free till We Are All Free’ by Leena Ghati, a series of stills published on Instagram.

secondly, i’d like to draw your attention to an essay written by Nicki Kattoura, a Palestinian writer and editor and someone whom i look up to with star-cast eyes. Nicki wrote an essay once again, on language, that spearheaded millions of internal dialogues in my mind, about the ways that people will distract us from our activism. his essay, titled "A Thousand Eulogies Are Exported to the Comma.” Of Syntax and Genocide, speaks to the idiocrasy and blatant foolishness, of correcting grammatical errors (in other words, picking at semantics), instead of digesting the content that is being spoken of. the content being the most important part of the conversation. this is the nature of our modern world: when people cannot fault you for the words coming out of your mouth, they will find a way to berate you until you are worn to the bone. but Kattoura’s essay is poignant and gut-wrenching, not because it is written the way an English major wanted it to be written, but because it stands the test of time and holds a spiritual truth. it is not poetic, but biblical. all in the ways that Moses would hold his staff and part a sea, Kattoura commands the spirit to hear him, not with his words but with his self-awareness about how we are manipulated and contorted by things that try to distract us from the truth and to an extent, our own pain. i implore you to read this essay with an open heart and no expectations. then, send it to quite literally everyone you know.

alright friends, that’s all from me.

yours,

Thando. x