The 7 Steps Hub Initiative is an innovative idea started by founder Clint White in his efforts to bring art and creativity to the disadvantaged of youth living on the Cape Flats.
I met up with Clint White to discuss the initiative, its goals and vision and what local and international organizations and individuals can do to get involved and make a difference.
RISE NEWS: 1. Can you give us an idea of your background and what lead to the idea of starting the 7 Steps Hub initiative?
Clint White: I’m a creative enthusiast, entrepreneur, brand strategist, creative director and business speaker. I’ve had the opportunity to be active in many creative roles, from brand manager, stylist, writer, creative director, art director, stage director, workshop host, panellist and even a voice over artist. I’m quite a lively and determined person, always wanting to source information and to do things differently. It’s how I’m inspired to be innovative in everything I do.
Living on the Cape Flats in Cape Town, I have a first-hand experience on what life is like here, the reality and prevalence of drug abuse, despair and violence suffered by our youth. This has forged a wedge between people, and the effects are disastrous. We’ve been left with a nation of uninspired youth, within disconnected communities, with little hope, so I thought that there must be an opportunity to change it.
RISE NEWS: 2. Why do you think that art specifically is a tool to change mind sets and instil a sense of self-confidence in the youth living on the Cape Flats?
Clint White: Coming from a creative background myself, I believe that art has the ability to heal people from an intrinsic perspective, which can quite literally change an individual’s thinking.
I think we should re-introduce art in our public education system, as it’s seen as an exclusive privilege at best.
There is little understanding of art in our communities and this creates a hindrance in pursuing a creative career or appreciation of the discipline.
We need to realise that the ability to think creatively and to come up with ideas, contributes to every industry the world over, from fashion, engineering, science, technology, music, media, architecture, design and even education; they all require creativity.
Founder Clint White (R) receiving an award from Marlon Parker, founder of RLabs.
You can pour your emotions, desires, fears, aspirations and viewpoints into whatever artwork you create, and learn new skills in the process. Art allows people to think differently in a way that we apply creative interpretations of how we experience the world around us and how we contribute to it.
RISE NEWS: 3. Has art been a force in your life and how has it changed or created a shift in mindset for you?
Clint White: Art is merely the mechanism or framework for innovation. I’m someone who has many different interests and creative pursuits in life, which I use to my advantage.
It [art] is about learning from past experiences and challenging myself to create new things, experiences and ideas; that’s where the innovation lies. I’m always researching new ideas, seeing what’s been done before and how we can make things better, to disrupt and to innovate. It’s what drives me.
RISE NEWS: 4. What do you intend to do with the art pieces that the kids create through the 7 Steps Hub initiative?
Clint White: Through our workshops, we intend on placing the art in the schools to encourage an appreciation and curiosity in art.
We expect that this will mitigate bullying as well, in the hopes that other youth will be interested in joining our programmes. The contributions the youth will make and the skills that they will learn will cultivate a sense of ownership which can be applied to other spheres of their lives too.
Through active support of funders and the public we hope to provide employment, entrepreneurship ideals and career development opportunities as well once the youth complete their schooling and perfect their skills through the art they create.
RISE NEWS: 5. Can you elaborate more on the community projects that 7 Steps Hub is starting up with students from Wynberg and Athlone?
Clint White: We wish to integrate the thinking at a community level into community development projects, not specifically only Wynberg and Athlone, but all communities.
We first want the learners to adopt a sense of ownership of their school, and then tackle their communities where they live.
We want the youth to visualise their communities as places of interest and inspiration. Through community clean ups, revamps, and art installations in these areas, we want to beautify them and bring the spirit of community back into where we live.
RISE NEWS: 6. Tell us more about the WaydesWelcome Journey and how that has influenced you moving forward with the 7 Steps Hub initiative?
Clint White: When I decided to walk around Cape Town collecting messages of support and congratulations for Olympic World Champion, Wayde Van Niekerk, I had no clue how the idea would take off. The campaign trended nationally within three days, and featured on every major media platform in the country, from radio interviews, TV appearances and newspaper articles. I met every person who signed the book.
I captured the journey on social media and garnered hundreds of thousands of impressions and people following the story each day.
It took me two months and 400 kilometres on foot, meeting hundreds of every day citizens and celebrities, from David Kramer, Evita Bezuidenhout, Mpho Tutu Van Furth and many more, to being invited by different companies, organisations, schools and people, it was incredible.
When he [Wayde Van Niekerk] arrived back in the country, I was fortunate enough to be invited by T-Systems to attend a gala dinner in Wayde’s honour as a special guest.
I had the opportunity to have dinner with Wayde, met his family and made a speech, before finally handing the book over.
It inspired me that we as a nation can come together for a greater good. I was incredibly inspired that through my idea, I could unite the entire nation.
All we need is a little inspiration, to do great things. As South Africans, we are kind hearted and genuine, it was refreshing to experience first-hand.
RISE NEWS: 7. What are your goals for the 2017 year and how can businesses and individuals get involved in such an initiative?
Clint White: Our goal for 2017 is to inspire the youth and build partnerships and relationships in realising its success.
We’re busy planning a 7 Steps Hub Creative Expo, showcasing the innovation and creativity from our programmes, as well as artistic contributions from individuals in Cape Town.
As we are a non-profit organisation, the challenges we face are funding, and the need for resources in our continued endeavours in changing lives.
We want youth, private business, parents, government and ordinary citizens to make a concerted effort in supporting our organisation in any way they can.
We have a list of resources and funding objectives available which anyone can contribute towards.
We need people to support our social media platforms and spread the word about our initiative.
We will be launching a crowdfunding campaign too, for people to assist 7 Steps Hub. It’s important that we realise the need to take the step and build our future, together.
Follow this creative initiative on these social media platforms for more information on how to get involved and support the 7 Steps Hub Initiative:
Email: [email protected]
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/7StepsHub
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
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Re-purposing The Economy Can Help Stem The Tide of Terror
By Christian Felber
In the immediate aftermath of World War II the German state of Bavaria wrote a new constitution stating that all economic activity should serve the common good.
This was a direct response to the fascism that triggered the war, the Great Depression that gave rise to fascism and the laissez-faire economic and financial system that brought on the Great Depression.
But Bavaria was no pioneer in advocating for the common good: promoting general welfare is one of the bases of the United States constitution, stated in the preamble.
Today, as we contemplate the terror and violence infecting our world from France, Brussels and Bangladesh to Orlando and Dallas, the parallel with the common good cannot be ignored.
Over the last three decades, we have collectively failed to make promoting general welfare a priority, choosing instead to support globalized financial capitalism which aims to maximize opportunities for self-interested speculators eyeing profit, bonuses and privileges for large corporations and the global elite who control them — the same set of elite that’s prepared to wage war in order to the secure natural resources.
It’s no secret that the winners have become more powerful and the losers have become ever more frustrated and disaffected.
To a certain extent, society can handle inequality and the resulting marginalization. But what about when that threshold is surpassed?
As we are now witnessing, those who’ve been or who feel left behind, those who are left without without opportunities or hope, lash out with aggression and violence.
Thus, today, we are paying the price in fear and bloodshed of having forgotten the lessons embedded in the Second World War’s inception.
But it’s not too late.
The growing outcry against inequality, the vociferous calls for fair trade instead of free trade and human rights instead of corporate rights as we’ve seen through the Bernie Sanders movement among others suggests that the tides can — and may well — change.
It won’t happen overnight, but with the right level of commitment to re-purposing our global economy through the following initiatives, we can help it take root:
-A fundamental redefinition of economic success based on an organization’s contribution to the common good.
To this end, the adoption of a “Common Good Balance Sheet“ for transnational corporations as a condition for accessing global markets.
A first attempt at proposing such guidelines was made in the early 2000s by the United Nations, which drafted the “Draft Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights.”
This was rejected by business associations and western governments. Now, a better and already widely used instrument – the Common Good Balance Sheet – is available and with the right backing, could become legislation under international law.
-The shifting of investment finance priorities from profit goals to common good goals drawing on The Common Good Balance Sheet.
-The long-overdue fulfillment of the 0.7 target whereby 0.7% of rich countries respective GNPs would be donated to development assistance through the United Nations.
-The payment by rich countries of their outstanding balances due to the United Nations.
-A cap on the amount of private wealth that can be held by individuals.
-The shifting of priorities from forging international trade deals favoring corporate profit over the welfare of all to taking joint initiatives that support global cooperation, solidarity, sustainability and peace work.
The challenge could not be bigger — or more urgent. Corporations who view their primary responsibility as serving shareholders are the first who’ll need to step up to the plate and consider what entrepreneurial strategies and forms of cooperation will help those who’ve been excluded from the global economy to find opportunities and their place within it.
Governments will need to look at policy instruments such as the Common Good Balance Sheet to support an agenda of human welfare and development rather than a corporate bill of rights.
In sending a clear message through our actions that we’re serious about focusing on a common good economy, on local development and sustainability, on fair trade and the strengthening of refugee, poverty reduction and peace programs, we will see the preachers of hatred, revenge and divide would lose their arguments and their targets one by one.
Christian Felber is founder of the The Economy For The Common Good.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: nrkbeta/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Does The Government Even Want To Save Cantonese From Going Extinct In Hong Kong?
By Jessie Pang
The linguistic diversity of China is fading rapidly in recent years.
According to the Globe and Mail, 88 Chinese languages or dialects are endangered.
Cantonese, one of the widely spoken languages of Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau, does not escape from this trend.
However, unlike many other endangered Chinese languages or dialects, from “Protecting Cantonese Movement” in Guangzhou to “Opposing Putonghua as a Medium of Instruction (PMI)” in Hong Kong, the regional lingua franca Cantonese receives the most viral discussion and debate across the Pearl River Delta (PRD) on safeguarding its language status and the use of it.
There are many reasons behind such importance and growing concern.
1. Government policies endanger the existence of Cantonese
To start with, the active promotion of Putonghua by Hong Kong and the Central Government in recent years harms the continued existence of Cantonese.
Although “committed to promoting trilingualism” across English, Cantonese and Putonghua is the official stance of the Hong Kong government, the Education Bureau once claimed “Cantonese is not an official language” in 2014 and states that PMI “is a long-term and developmental target” in a report to the Legislative Council’s education panel in 2015.
Despite the contradictive stance of the government, it’s no doubt that Hong Kong has long been adopting a pro-Putonghua education policy.
READ MORE: What Are The Wukan Protests And Why Should Young People Care?
“Scheme to Support Schools in Using Putonghua to Teach the Chinese Language Subject” was launched as a pilot scheme for all schools to adopt PMI since 2008.
As a result, about 71 percent of local primary and 31 percent of secondary schools are now adopting PMI together with Putonghua as a separate language subject.
The situation Cantonese speakers are facing in the Guangdong province is even worse.
A proposal on increasing the use of Putonghua in local television programs was once put forward by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Guangzhou Committee in 2010.
Despite the strong opposition that suggestion has faced, another manuscript, the Guangdong National Language Regulations was enacted by the local government in 2012 to ensure Putonghua is the only workplace language throughout the province.
This was done as part of a national push to standardize communication and enhance state unity and stability according to the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.
A scene in downtown Hong Kong. Photo Credit: Anton/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
Lacking of the Cantonese context, children in both Hong Kong and Guangdong province are now found using Putonghua naturally in their daily life and some have started having difficulties in understanding Cantonese.
Seeing the possibility of losing their mother tongue, citizens thus become more aware of the preservation of Cantonese.
2. Cantonese is the foundation of local culture
The loss of Cantonese could also mean a loss of local culture.
Cantonese has verbally blended different languages together and as a result becomes a carrier of local culture and eyewitness of the societal development.
During the British colonial period, many common terms in Cantonese, such as dik-si (taxi) and si-do-be-lei (strawberry) were translated from English directly.
In recent years, as the contact of different cultures increases, Japanese terms have also been used in Cantonese directly, such as kawayi (cute) and fong tai (Japanese buffet).
Furthermore, many popular and distinctive local cultural products are made in Cantonese.
For instance, Cantonese opera is one of the three Chinese opera genres on the UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Representative List.
Also, Cantopop has had a significant influence in the Asia-Pacific Rim since the 1970s. The “god of song” Sam Hui and the “four heavenly kings” Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Leon Lai and Aaron Kwok are still very popular in both mainland China and overseas.
What’s more, almost all popular Hong Kong classic movies made in the 1980s were produced in Cantonese and the Cantonese-speaking actors are still famous superstars.
Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan are two popular examples of the Canto Kung Fu movie icons.
These explain the significant role played by Cantonese in the local culture and the growing importance of preserving Cantonese.
3. Cantonese is a traditional intangible heritage with international prestige
In addition, Cantonese is a precious traditional intangible heritage with a long held international prestige.
It has a richer traditional heritage. It it had been spoken by the ancient Chinese since the Tang Dynasty while Putonghua is a language introduced by the northern nomadic invaders during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
READ MORE: Was There Massive Voter Fraud In The Hong Kong LegCo Elections?
Hence, it has inherited the pronunciation, lexis, meaning and beauty of Chinese classical language. For instance, Cantonese has 9 tones while Putonghua only has 4 tones. Also, ancient Chinese literature can only be fully understood and read in Cantonese.
Moreover, such importance has gained a growing international recognition and concern.
Apart from its legal language status acknowledged by UNESCO, universities have long been offering credit-bearing and non-credit-bearing Cantonese courses which have received strong support from the public.
Photo Credit: Toomore Chiang/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
One significant example is the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. That institution received a large amount of thank you emails after it announced to offer credit-bearing Cantonese courses.
Therefore, people often regard Cantonese as the last resort of protecting traditional Chinese culture and languages and proud to be its defenders.
4. Cantonese is the symbol of local identity and the yardstick of distinctiveness
With such unique importance and status of Cantonese, the language has become the symbol of identity and the indication of the local political and socio-economical difference with the rest of China, especially in Hong Kong.
Lacking of confidence in the central government and fearing Hong Kong may lose its status as an international city and its competitive edge, many Hong Kong people have committed to preserve and enhance the distinctiveness of Hong Kong from China since the handover in 1997.
According to the ethno-linguistic identity model and the communication accommodation theory, when people strongly identify with their ethnic group, they tend to communicate in their ethnic language to symbolically distinguish themselves from others.
In this way, people with a strong Hongkonger identification incline to resist learning Putonghua and focus more on preserving Cantonese (Tong, 1999. International Journal of Intercultural Relations,23(2), 281-296.)
Such inclination is further intensified as the entitled ways of life and valued linguistic practices changed rapidly by the mass migration from northern China.
Guangdong province has attracted lots of migrants from the northern part of China with all walks of life ever since the economic reforms and the open up policy.
Yet, most of them failed to adapt the local culture and even demanded the city to change for them.
Hence, Guangdong citizens feel that they are the root cause of all problems, such as the recent acceleration in the strong competition in the job market, exploiting the social welfare benefit which the locals do not have and causing the rise of crime rate and more.
Hong Kong has shared a similar situation but the reaction in Hong Kong is much stronger owing to intense Hong Kong-China conflict in recent years and the three concrete promises: “once country, two systems”, “high degree of autonomy and “remained unchanged for 50 years” made by the central government before the handover.
Mao even said “language is the most significant part of life style. According to the above stipulation, therefore, the status of Cantonese can at least remain unchanged for 50 years”.
For instance, Hong Kong Airlines fight attendants launched a “No Putonghua” protest in response to a mainland passengers’ sit-in.
Also, jeering at the Chinese national anthem has gradually become a habit of Hong Kong football fans to express their anti-China feeling.
With a fear that they may lose their identities and cities, the potential of losing Cantonese has become a warning alarm in many people’s mind.
Thus, Cantonese has become a way of struggle against the domination of the outsiders for the locals with strong ethnic consciousness.
To conclude, protecting Cantonese in PRD has become more important since the 1990s mainly because Hong Kong and central government fail to understand Cantonese is not just a regional lingual franca and suppress its existence rapidly.
On the contrary, the genuine public uphold Cantonese as a precious intangible heritage with international prestige, the foundation of local culture, the symbol of local identity and hence defend the linguistic status and use of Cantonese fiercely.
Although many countries try to achieve solidarity through linguistic conformity, there are also prosperous multiethnic and multilingual countries that achieve the same goal by preserving the linguistic diversity.
If policy makers really hope to achieve a harmonious society, they should recognize the complex multicultural and multi-linguistic reality of China, respect the linguistic right of individuals and preserve Cantonese and other dialects or languages at their upmost through revising the current national policy.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
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Colleges Around The World Really Aren’t So Good At This “Free Speech” Thing
Watch what you spout on Facebook – and anywhere on social media – because it could come back to bite you. Or get you kicked out of college.
Today’s college students grew up with social media, so it’s easy to make a connection as to why in recent years an increasing number of students all over the globe have been under fire for expressing their opinions, on platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. One of the most controversial subjects is, not surprisingly, religion.
Should universities and colleges regulate and prohibit certain types of speech? In a new survey of college students, 69% said colleges should be able to establish policies that restrict the use of racial slurs and other language that is intentionally offensive to certain groups.
Gallup surveyed more than 3,000 college students for the study conducted by the Knight Foundation and the Newseum Institute.
When it comes to free speech and First Amendment rights, all speech isn’t created equal in the eyes of colleges, and in some cases students have been expelled for unsavory code of conduct, with religious issues at the heart of it.
Sheffield, England
Earlier this year, a Christian university student in England was expelled from his courses in social work after he expressed views about gay marriage and quoted the bible on his Facebook page.
Someone filed a complaint, and the University of Sheffield suspended him two months later.
Felix Ngole, 38, was in the process of getting his master’s in social work, when he posted a supportive message about Kim Davis, the Kentucky marriage clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The university argued that Ngole’s beliefs are discriminating and not appropriate for someone entering the social work profession.
Ngole says he’s the one being discriminated against. Universities censoring students for their views and beliefs raises major concerns about the value of free speech, his supporters say.
“The university has failed to protect his freedom of speech under Article 10 [of the British Human Rights Act] and his freedom of religion under Article 9,” Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting Ngole said in a statement. “Students are entitled to discuss and debate their own personal views on their own Facebook page.”
Some people do in fact use a public forum like Facebook as if they’re having a conversation in their living room.
A student at DuPage University in Glen Ellyn, Illinois talking at an on campus event. Questions about free speech on campus is back in the news. Photo Credit: COD Newsroom/ Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
The old adage “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” typically describes principles of free speech, although not so much in the university setting lately.
Ngole is a prime example.
“The university claims my views are discriminatory, but I am the one being discriminated against because of my expression of Christian beliefs,” he said in an interview with HuffPost UK. “I wonder whether the university would have taken any action if a Muslim student who believes in Shari’a law, with its teaching about women and homosexuality, had made moderate comments on his Facebook page. I don’t think so.”
Fort Worth, Texas
In a similar case, a student at Texas Christian University was kicked out of school last year and instructed to take a diversity class and see a psychiatrist. Student Harry Vincent described Baltimore rioters as “hoodrat criminals” on his Facebook page and in a tweet, on a different topic, stated Islam is “clearly not a religion of peace.”
His messages offended a woman named Kelsey, who compiled his “disgusting and racist” posts and shared them on her Tumblr asking people to email TCU to let the university know Vincent was “shedding a bad light” on the institution.
The dean’s office received more than 20 complaints and Vincent was suspended by the university. He was charged with infliction of bodily or emotional harm and disorderly conduct. He appealed the decision but the university denied his appeal, stating “The choices you made caused harm to other individuals. These types of comments are not acceptable at TCU and directly contradict our mission of being ethical leaders and responsible citizens in a global community.”
Vincent said he probably won’t return to TCU because he will not attend a school that doesn’t support the Constitution or the school’s own student handbook.
Nampa, Idaho
Religion is a touchy subject, and universities don’t want their constituency threatened – whether by a student or faculty. In a case involving a tenured professor in Idaho, social media wasn’t necessarily at play, but the broader spectrum of First Amendment rights.
Professor Thomas Oord of Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho was laid off last year under the guise of budget cuts.
Oord, a prolific writer and popular theologian, believes in evolution and he clashed with the university’s president on theology.
One writer pastor named Tim Suttle put it brilliantly when he said Northwest Nazarene should have just been honest and “own up” to why Oord was fired via email by president David Alexander.
“It’s such a failure of nerve to call it a budget cut,” Tim Suttle wrote. “Be straight about it, man… ‘I fired him because I disagree with his theological positions and he’s a pain in my butt. He’s a brilliant theologian but I don’t want him at my school and that’s my call.’ I would disagree with it, but at least your integrity is intact as a leader.”
As institutions of higher education continue to wake up to the realities of social media, there will no doubt be more flash-points in the fight for free speech.
Melissa Davidson is a freelance writer and social media marketer in Idaho. She has a degree in Journalism from the University of Montana.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: mckinney75402/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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