The conditioned thinking intellectualism, identity politics and the “silent” evidence of the solitary genius of my father Dr Ambrose Cato George has played a significant role in my development as an essayist and social commentator, as a poetry and cultural practitioner. My father came to Christ, as I did. Religious texts have always held me spellbound. A special book was given to me, the Don’t Be Sad book and then I turned to the Quran, I embraced it and wondered to myself how many Christians have done this. What treasure and gems I found there! But did reading the Quran mean I wasn’t a Christian anymore? I had so many questions. The flesh hates and punishes others, rejects others, has the approach of stigma against clinical depression but the spirit has will, discipline and stamina on its side. What do you do when the voice of your family is not on your side? It, quite frankly, made me suicidal. All of it. The rejection from the community and the stigma against clinical depression. It made me feel as if I was living a compromised life.
There were three decades of fire during the 1960-1990s in South Africa. Warfare. Psychological warfare. Spiritual warfare. Physical warfare. There’s no difference. There’s a fallout. There’s an aftermath. Picture this. The illusion of reality and I place emphasis on that because what if it becomes a condition where you only begin to see the illusion of reality and nothing else until it becomes a medical model.
In the life of Dr Ambrose Cato George Ph.D, my father, he was recruited into a subversive organization as a student at UWC formerly known as Bush University, he was a scholar who studied at London University, teacher, writer, family man but there was disorder in his life when it came to his mood. A wise and brilliant man, it still occupies his life.
I am sure that many in South Africa identify with my father’s life. I am sure that people identify with the importance of the genetic factors in the field of mental health across those decades. I look at his personality, intelligence, politics, recovery and relapse during that tumultuous time of South Africa’s history. Perhaps as South Africans we are all quiet revolutionaries.
Men and women had the conviction to risk their lives in exchange for freedom and emancipation. They wanted to liberate the sound mind, body and soul from a terrifying regime. Sought to annihilate and erase oppression, ridicule, mockery, humiliation and systemic racism.
My paternal grandfather was a veteran himself of the Second World War and I am sure there are veterans of the armed struggle who have this narrative in their own story.
I have found when I peruse material concerning the Islamic faith a kind of peace of mind, a silence, a calm acceptance that has no laws governing it pertaining to the status of what car you drive, where you live, the schools your children attend, if you have a university degree. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. It has taught me to make a conscientious habit of being kind, tolerant and understanding towards others. It has given me a novel vision for the future, it has given me hope. The old me in that distant life was filled with hardship and despair. Depression, that darkness visible, was the enemy that held me captive in those days.
There is so much going on these days. There is so much to be grateful and thankful for. The church and the poet and cultural practitioner, where do they meet? How do we extract value, access and agency from both? We have to understand and establish the value of what the church, poetry and culture means to the Christian. Since ancient times the Christian has come under fire for blasphemy.
We must ask ourselves what are the intentions of our tribe, your tribe, my tribe, the collective tribe and what are the character traits of your inner circle? We must catch people doing the right thing instead of always playing the name and blame game. I was listening to the Ideas That Matter podcast by Vusi Thembekwayo and found what he talked about refreshing and insightful. It also inspired this missive to the editor.
To reach platforms, for us to express ourselves, elucidate progress and pronounce performance we must build norms, and establish this in our communities, in our homes, in the workplace, and if we are poets and cultural practitioners in our place, in our poetry and cultural environment we must integrate these norms. As Christians we must build these same norms in church and our interpersonal relationships.
We must, as Vusi Thembekwayo said in his podcast, “catch people doing the right thing”.
