Msomi Magic!

Bravo, you brave cowards!

cowANDchickenANDcoward is a cyber world created by four female first year Rhodes University students. This blog, despite its name, is very brave in a sense that some of the topics that are discussed within it are really delicate and sensitive issues.
As expected wherever autonomous female minds congregate, the ladies from this blog tackle issues that are common hits among women. Issues such as weight problems and of course feminist campaigns are among the topics that fall under the umbrella of subject matter that form the crux of this blog.
The blog is also a reflection our world today, as politics also make a guest appearance among the conferred areas covered. Politically oriented current affairs make up the larger proportion of this blog, who said politics are for men? The blog also tends to take on the role of big sister as it has posts that are about the “top 10 things to do in the process of exam preparation,” which are clearly aimed at fellow students.
There are also some very fine narratives to be found on the blog, on that caught especially caught my wandering eye was “Dope time or dope out?” which was posted by writer Seeyah.
The name of the blog and the issues covered suggest that the makers of this blog had an intended contrast in mind. Only once upon a blue moon does a coward tackle these agendas with such bravery, a job well done!
Tweet: Forget Xena and Catwoman and find modern female heroines at Cow and chicken and coward!
By Tshegofatso Masoba.

Free Hugs!

What is imperative to understand before reading this post is that it involves a crazy journalism assignment my class was given over the weekend. Basically, we had to do something we had never done before. Sounds pretty easy huh? Well let me tell you, it is a lot more difficult than you would think!

Firstly, I am a broke student with no vehicle of any sort. Thus exciting trips to the beach or to see giant pineapples were out of the question. Secondly, while it may not seem like it, I have done a lot of things! Trying to find something to do that was not deathly boring or illegal proved to be incredibly challenging.

Eventually, however, after chatting to a group of friends, we came up with the idea of walking around campus with a sign saying "Free Hugs" and then dishing out hugs to whoever approached us. Being the last week of term, everyone is completely stressed out and on the verge of nervous breakdowns. Thus, offering them a good old solid hug was our way of spreading a little joy, you know, in good Halloween spirit.

I was quite chuffed with our idea the whole week (we decided to do it on Friday), but when I woke up this morning I started to feel more than slightly apprehensive. I have never really cared what people think about me, but I began to worry about people's reactions; worst would be if no one even took us up on our offer!

However, the whole experience really was fun and worthwhile. We encountered a variety of reactions, however most of them were positive. Most people walked by and gave us a smile or laugh but a good number actually wanted hugs. Wherever we went, people greeted us with happiness. There were obviously a couple of people who snickered at us or simply ignored us, but it was great to see that the majority gave us positive energy.

'Free Hugs' was an interesting exercise and one that I really enjoyed. It provided me, and hopefully many others, with a couple happy hours in an otherwise stressful and overburdened life.

A blog dedicated to scandal and ‘skinner’, RU Scandalous asks the question, “Have you heard?”

By Cat Pennels

When you arrive at RU Scandalous’s doorstep, you are confronted by a large white photograph of the Rhodes University clock tower swathed in pink and black swirls. To the left of the screen a woman’s lips pose as if to whisper something sultry into your ear. This is clearly a blog that serves up sizzling stories - but with a Rhodes flavour.

Expecting a blog that dealt with petty Rhodes gossip, I was pleasantly surprised by the thoughtful and challenging writing I discovered. While RU Scandalous certainly provides analysis on trends and issues at Rhodes University, it does not focus on the frivolous and mundane as I had braced myself for. In fact, a witty post written by Aimee Caulfield and entitled "Scandal only exists in the thoughts of the beholder", critically examines "the media deluge of petty celebrity fights and irksome political figures pretending to be something a lot better than they are."

Other interesting posts deal with the 'death of music', the Caster Semenya debacle and Mia Farrow's work with Gaza victims. Perhaps one of the most interesting and relevant posts is one that delves into homosexuality and the Rhodes drama department.

RU Scandalous is a blog that very successfully combines thought-provoking journalism with the latest news from around campus and the world. It stands tall among other South African blogs of its kind, such as GOSSIPS, which lack intellectual analysis. RU Scandalous is a blog that is well worth a visit.

Is Hip Hop dead?

Since it was started by the legendary DJ Kool Herc in the Bronx during the 1970’s, hip hop has since taken many shapes and forms. The worst of those forms undoubtedly being Crunk since it divided the many sons of hip hop’s ‘Father Abraham’.
Rapper Nas’ prophetic message that ‘Hip hop is dead’ seems to be coming true. With snappy beats, verses shorter than hooks and auto tune being the order of the day in modern songs.
In my 12 or so years of listening to hip hop I could not help but recognise a change as the years went by. At first, artists such as KRS-One and Rakim would constantly drop knowledge for their devotees. Fast forward to today, an age where listeners are force fed songs on the most random of topics. A song about making out in the club seems relevant these days.
Thankfully there is a market for some of us who refuse to associate with such utter rubbish. Enter underground hip hop, where opening books is regarded as more important than opening legs. Yes there is a realm beyond the Lil’ Wayne’s and Soulja Boy’s, that is where artists like The Last Emperor, Killah Priest and Canibus, to mention but just a few, reside.
Underground hip hop continues to flourish, even when its commercial counterpart struggles to find itself. Is hip hop dead? I have no straight answer for that, all I can say is that it is underground.

By Tshegofatso Masoba.

Meat's Not Green

“If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is stop eating meat.” - Paul McCartney.

For over three years I have been a dedicated vegetarian. Seeing the reality of animals suffering intensive confinement, painful mutilations and violent deaths was the driving force behind my lifestyle decision. However, I have recently become aware of a new and shocking fact; the meat industry is not only responsible for the horrificly inhumane treatment of animals but also for ravaging our environment.

According to the United Nations, raising animals for food causes more greenhouse gas emissions than all the vehicles, aeroplanes, ships and trains combined and is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems”. Every minute an area of rainforest equivalent to seven football fields is destroyed to accommodate grazing cattle, and in the USA, raising animals for food uses more than half of all the water consumed. Livestock production uses 30 percent of the earth's surface and is the leading cause of damage to scarce water sources.

Refusing to eat meat is the single most effective way of cutting down your carbon footprint. The earth is in her eleventh hour; we have to put greed and selfishness in the backseat and for once think about the good of our planet and her creations. Such a basic, inexpensive decision could not only save our earth, but precious lives too.

For more information have a look at http://www.meat.org/

Santana's guitar playing on final string

The following post is an evaluation on an article written on beleaguered national team coach Joel Santana by Tiyani wa ka Mabasa for Kick Off - South Africa.
South African reporters have been wilfully spilling ink and calling for head of the Bafana Bafana coach without stating why they believed he should leave. Unlike his colleagues and Julius Malema (News - Opinion: Santana must go - Malema), Mabasa provides readers with evidence as to why he believes Santana should be relieved of his duties.
South Africa is the first national team Santana has coached in his 28 years on the sidelines. Mabasa highlighted his three main problems with Santana as follows; “1.His selections 2.A negative playing system 3.‘Rocket science’ approach when taking decisions.”
I am of the same mind as Mabasa on these three points. Santana has made some shock inclusions/exclusions in his team, like the omission of Nasief Morris from the team while Aaron Mokoena earns cap after cap for the once great Bafana. Santana habitually selects players to fill in unfamiliar roles, while also using a defensive system that dries up the already barren goal tally.
Bafana have lost eight of their last nine matches which is at the opposite end of the continuum with teams like Spain and Brazil, who have lost only once in 42 and 21 games respectively.
Now that Joel Santana has been shown the door, the question is who will step up and take over the reigns as coach of Bafana?
By Tshegofatso Masoba.

Grace Ushang and The Indecent Dressing Bill

"Grace Ushang was a young Nigerian woman who had every right to expect a bright future. Now she is dead merely because she was female." (Asma'u Joda and Iheoma Obibi, allAfrica.com)

Grace Ushang, a women raped to death for wearing trousers, serves as yet another bitter reminder of the struggle for equality that women on this continent face daily.

Violence against women is so commonplace that it hardly ever reaches the news stand. While searching for online news coverage of Ushang's murder this fact was re-emphasised when only three news articles came up, none of which were South African. This profoundly highlights the incredible apathy that faces women's rights activists in our country and on our continent.

It is not surprising then that the most informative article was written by Joda and Iheoma of the Nigerian Feminist Forum. This article discusses the role that an "Indecent Dressing" bill had in Ushang's murder and critically discusses the horrific implications such a bill would have for the safety of Nigerian women.

Next.com's follow-up article on Ushang's murder was also interesting. While it did not explore the issues that the murder transgressed, it did show the anger and despair Ushang's family and community are experiencing.

Grace Ushang presents us with a warning that cannot be ignored. While women are being murdered for the clothes that they wear, it is unacceptable to turn a blind eye and forget our duty to other women on this continent. The battle for equality rages ever stronger.

Awesomeness

Sexual Violence = Silence

I am a 19 year old female from a township called KwaMashu in KwaZulu Natal and I go by the name of Nosipho Msomi. I am also an inspiring journalist who loves to analyse people’s behaviours,experiences and ways of thinking in an attempt to understand them. I guess that is why psychology is my second major! Human beings are my most basic interest,which is probably the reason why I generally enjoy reading autobiographies. They allow any reader to walk with writer as they tell their story and share some of their most intimate experiences.

I believe life to be an array of different experiences which are there to offer lessons and wisdom. These experiences are laid onto us by our Creator and it is up to the individual to attain as much fulfilment and life-long spiritual enrichment as they can. People who take the chance to analyse and meditate about their lives have a great opportunity at spiritual growth,then those who only see their world to only be about material and worldly obsessions. Similar beliefs can be found in a variety of literature such as the books by Maya Angelou titled I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. In her books she relays lessons of spirituality,knowing and understanding oneself and accepting the person you are. All this while working to achieve in the pace of the rest of the world, because the world is a competitive place.

Life as a journalism student presents many different experiences which give the student the chance to broaden their horizons. This clearly shows in the Freadom Writers group,as we are all relatively different individuals brought together by the love of journalism,writin and sharing ideas. As individuals we have different approaches to our work,yet we have a common goal to educate and share information with our audience. Our separate interests come together to form a beautiful experience and energy that we can gladly share with other people through blogging.

I view the world to be a relatively challenging place. Where it is up to the individual to establish a place for themselves . Opportunities come and go,this means it is up to the individual to gather their energy and will to obtain what it is they were created for. The challenge seems too great at times,but it is possible to conquer. Finding one’s purpose may just be the greatest challenge of all,but once found,every other factor of life falls into place and life is complete. So read on,as we use the information we gather together to learn more about the world and the people with whom we share it with! Hope you enjoy and learn valuable lessons.

Tshegofatso Masoba is one third of the writers who make up F[read]om writers. Of the three first year Rhodes University Journalism and Media Studies students, I embody the third that is comprised of sports, music (predominantly underground hip hop) and spirituality. Writing and thinking caps on please! Got that? Now you can enter F[read]om writers, a cyber realm where opinions and ideas reside in the hope of spreading from one head to the next.

A Johannesburg thoroughbred, I now find myself in the tiny city of Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, where life is not as fast tracked as I had gotten used to. I am a person who is absolutely crazy about sports; rugby, cricket and soccer form an integral portion of my staple diet while other sports like boxing, athletics and swimming also feature in there as well. Messi vs. Ronaldo? Is the current Springbok team the best ever? These are the type of arguments that I hope to indulge in with readers as we learn from one another and converse about the wonderful world of sports.

Music also forms a major part of my life at the moment as I have been in love with hip hop since my years as a toddler. My older brother used to play the catchy beats and lyrics at an outrageously high volume, inconsiderate of my supple ears. Today, I play hip hop at deafening volumes independently while also making an odd contribution of writing verses or poems of my own every now and then. I am flexible in this field, although I might not be eager to talk about commercial hip hop and crunk; a conversation about underground hip hop is most likely to get the best out of me. I consider underground hip hop as being much realer than commercial and crunk music, a wet dream for the other two forms of hip hop. It manages to address serious topics, enlighten one about the world we are living in, without losing its amazing sound. Journalism on beats.

F[read]om writers, on the other hand, is a blog that aims to attract as many people involved in the field of journalism as possible. A blog vigilantly assembled for readers who will not view our blogposts as undisputable doctrines cast in stone, but rather the opening exchange in a conversation because our hope is to sustain a reciprocal relationship between readers and writers alike. Since it goes without saying that journalists are readers, or at least they should be, you can expect a book review as well every now and then. Are you ready to be f[read] ?

Amandla! Awethu.

Amanga! Awenu.

Getting to know Curious Cat

As you wander around this blog you may find yourself questioning who it is that actually spews out the rants, raves and reviews that you read. It is clear enough that they are the musings of a journalism student, but you want to know what makes this person tick; what makes them laugh, cry, scream, shout and wave fists (and there is rather a lot of that).

I am Cat Pennels; one of the three minds behind the F[read]om Writers. I like many things and dislike few. When I want to laugh I read Hunter S Thompson or phone my dad. When I want to cry I listen to Edith Piaf. I am incurably curious and full of life. I have no aspirations to a middle-class suburban life but want to see the world from every corner.

I am passionate about many things and they are the driving force behind my writing. As an animal and environmental nut, I believe it fairly obvious that when polar bears start drowning and ice-caps melting, every person should sit up and make a concerted effort to reduce their own carbon footprint. I am also a people-lover. Living in South Africa makes me very aware about how precious and invaluable human rights are, whether they be of gender, race or class. My inner-activist rises her head when I think about how many people worldwide, but most specifically in my country, live without the dignity and opportunity they deserve. To think that the people who have the power to effect change remain useless, and worse still, that the citizens who know and see the inequality prefer apathy, makes my skin crawl. It begins to feel as though this world really is a smouldering heap of injustice, greed and exploitation.

However, my true hope loving self knows that this is not the case. There are young people like you and I who are desperate to make a difference, to uncover the darkness and create light. That is why we study journalism and that is why this blog exists; to serve as a platform for other journalists and people to discuss issues such as these and others close to their hearts.

You can expect to find many different posts on many different ideas, almost all of which will be based in reading. I do not pretend to be an expert on life and the world and so turn to older and sager minds to help form and bolster my ideas. As Nadine Gordimer says, “The only school for the writer is the library – reading, reading.”

Vegetarian Starter Kits

http://www.peta.org/vsk/?c=pfs

Sir Paul McCartney - "If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is just stop eating meat."

Vegetarian! A word that strikes fear in the hearts of most South Africans. Why would anyone, you think, willingly give up tender steak, crispy roast chicken or a lekker braai. Images of dirty, dreaded misfits throwing red paint and wielding placards probably spring to mind.

Without wanting to sound too Sunday morning pulpit, I have to throw in my 50c. While I am a complete fool for animals, I do not object to meat eating on the principle that it's morally wrong. It's more an issue of greed and cruelty. Animals deserve to live pain-free existences devoid of tiny cages and hormones. No animal deserves to be farmed like a crop. Being vegetarian is my way of 'sticking it' to the meat man, and yes I know that my boycott alone is not going to end the shitty treatment of animals, but it's a conscience thing. And hey, the more people who make personal choices based on conscience, the more pressure we put on the inhumane bastards!

If you are at all interested in becoming vegetarian (go on, just have a look!) the above link is really great. It's got veggie recipes and tips and pictures of celebrity vegans and vegetarians.

Still Beats The Gentle Heart

http://www.facebook.com/stillbeatsthegentleheart#

So... this musical duo heralds from the bustling metropolis of Pietermaritzburg and are kind of incredible. In a place where people are accustomed to bad metal and scary folk music its quite phenomenal that a sound so progressive and utterly stunning is being produced. I really suggest that you give these two kids a listen - you wont regret it.

Vocals - Nina Kleynhans

Production/voice - James de Stadler

Greenpeace International Change for Change

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/elephants-for-chang-e140909



A 15-day journey with five elephants, to call upon world leaders to avert climate change.

Well worth a look!

Well Hello!

Greetings!
We are the F[read]om writers and we are very happy to welcome you to our blog.
We are three (free) students at Rhodes University in the very small town of Grahamstown, South Africa.
Expect critical comment and ideas on all aspects of life from prose to politics.

"We write in the light for your sight.
So read!"