issue #18: in search of the coloured narrative

in which i break down my ancestry results, silwerskermfees and more

Nov 06, 2024

hey everybody,

Just a little letter about some things I’ve been thinking about:

So I’ve been living in London for over a month and struggling with categorising my race. I’m very aware that the term ‘coloured’ has negative connotations in other parts of the world, so I try not to use it even though it’s all I’ve ever used at home. I, sometimes, say I’m mixed but one experience led to someone asking me what the mix is and I just wildly gestured and said ‘Everything.’ Someone else asked me if it meant that I was ‘like Trevor Noah’ and I had to respond with ‘no, more like Tyla.’

You might be thinking, ‘Caryn, why do you need to categorise your race at all? It surely isn’t such a big thing.’ However, for me it is. I am very aware of the fact that while I am light-skinned and often not mistaken as white back home where nuances are more known, where people don’t know the context and only know South Africa to be ‘white’ or ‘black’ it’s easy to mistake me as being white. And I’m very proud of my coloured heritage.

About two years ago, I did my Ancestry DNA test. The results of the test updates every year as they receive more data. This year’s results revealed that my highest percentages came from Central and Southern Philippines, Maritime Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore etc), the Deccan and the Gulf of Mannar (India, Sri Lanka) and England. It also revealed that I have ethnic origins in the Zulu people of Southern Africa, my Portuguese ancestry came from Azores and much more.

This type of test might seem pointless because it really has no bearing on the life we are living now. But, for me, it helps to understand my history and that it is so much more than just black and white. It is the story of slaves that arrived in South Africa from Asia, it is the story of travellers from the Philippines, it’s the story of the Zulu people who fought for their land, it’s a story of coming from everywhere, but also coming from nowhere.

As a lot of my research and coverage over my journalistic and academic career has been around coloured people in the media, it has been something I’ve continually been focused on. This means that when I consume media from South Africa, I am usually tuned in, in how coloured people are represented.

In August, I had the opportunity to attend the Silwerskermfees as well as the Awards. Even though, this year, I saw way more coloured people nominated, still too few people won, especially when they were doing amazing work on television. I also managed to watch three excellent films centred around the coloured experience which I wanted to share with you (two are available to watch right now):

1. Brassie Vannie Kaap documentary

Directed by Lauren Scholtz, this documentary is an interesting dive into the lives of the pioneering Afrikaans hip-hop group Brasse Vannie Kaap as they carved a space for coloured people in Afrikaans music. It’s so insightful and a great way to celebrate coloured people in the arts (especially hip-hop) and not let their stories go untold. I interviewed Lauren and you can read the interview here. It’s available to watch on Showmax now.

2. The Station Strangler documentary

In the case that rocked the Cape Flats in the 90s, this documentary focused on the case of the Station Strangler and the effect it had on the Mitchell’s Plain community. So many times, crime on the Flats is ignored because it is seen as typical but what this documentary does is it shows how it affects the residents, and it is really well done. I interviewed the director Nadine Cloete here and Dr. Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk also wrote an excellent piece for The Conversation about the documentary and true crime. It’s available to watch on Showmax now.

3. Hier.Na

My favourite film that I saw at the festival was Hier. Na. It tells the story of Eric Burgess (David Isaacs), an atheist who has to deal with his Muslim wife’s Janazzah after she passes away. It is a stunning film that made me cry and laugh and recognise so much of the coloured and Muslim community. It also boasts an excellent lead performance by David Isaacs that honestly had me floored. It should be available to stream soon.

What is the coloured narrative? Is it the drama of Arendsvlei and Suidooster, the comedy of Mince Jou Hare or the facts of The Station Strangler documentary? It’s all of these, it’s none of these. The point is that we need more stories about coloured people across genres, fiction and non-fiction, historical and current. We need to constantly question stereotypes, to show the messy and the clean side, to start new conversations. As Tyla famously said, when it comes to our racial identity, “it’s and not or”. And the only way to incorporate the ‘and’ is to create more.

So I will constantly be searching for the coloured narrative, and celebrate the amazing work that coloured creators are doing to tell our stories. Without support, our stories will go untold, our people will be forgotten and the iconic moments that shaped us will fade away. We are the keyholders in telling the coloured narrative.

Some other articles I’ve written recently:

I reviewed the adorable rom-com series Nobody Wants This for News24.
I reviewed the dystopian YA film Uglies for News24.
I reviewed the enthralling drama series The Sympathizer for News24.

recs:

TV: The Good Place - Recently, I’ve been looking for an easy watch to vedge out with after a long time and I through on The Good Place on Netflix. I’m not going to lie, with the first few episodes I was like meh but after episode four I was laughing out loud and hooked. It’s a fun show, with a great cast. It’s available to stream on Netflix.

Film: The Idea of You - I’m always kinda reticent of films that are based on fanfiction, so I was going to watch this but I really do love Anne Hathaway. And one Friday night I was like, maybe I should watch an Anne-romcom that I have never seen before. While this isn’t amazing, it is still very cute, and Nicholas Galitzine and Anne Hathaway have great chemistry. It’s available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

what you missed in the news:

Entertainment

Music pioneer Quincy Jones has passed away.
Gisele Bundchen is pregnant with her first child with boyfriend Joaquim Valente.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been accused of raping a 10-year-old boy.
Home Improvement actor Zachary Ty Bryan was arrested for yet another DUI.
Honestly, one of my favourite internet moments is the story about the Timothee Chalamet Lookalike Contest.

tchalamet_world

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How Netflix’s new feature allows you to share your favourite scenes on social media.
Shawn Mendes kinda addressed rumours about his sexuality mid-concert.
Ian Somerhalder is no longer acting.
The Wayans Brothers are making a new Scary Movie.
Let’s look into Chris Brown’s history of violence.
Teri Garr, the star of Young Frankenstein and Tootsie, has passed away.
Awards season has started! Here are the nominations for the Gotham Awards.
Channing Tatum and Zoe Kravitz have broken up.
Nina Dobrev and Shaun White are engaged.
Margot Robbie has given birth to a baby boy.
Dawson’s Creek’s James van der Beek has been diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Outer Banks will end with season 5.
Lana Condor got married to Anthony De La Torre.

vogueweddings

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Fashion & Beauty

The best celebrity Halloween costumes according to Vogue, according to The Cut, according to Cosmopolitan, according to Harper’s Bazaar
All the best looks from the CFDA Fashion Awards.
This season’s IT hair colour is ‘bonfire blonde.’
Maluma has a new athleisure line out.
The chocolate glaze nail trend is super in right now.