In Support of the African Communities in Tübingen

We wish to express our absolute support for the African community/communities of Tübingen in the face of the racism it has to endure, especially at times of distress and tragedy. Being 'green' (which Tübingen prides itself on being) is meaningless if human rights and respect for humanity aren't part of the equation. For context, see this article in The African Courier.

Forks

 

Lightning touched a clinic

near where the medical helicopter

lands and then it touched the old botanical gardens.

 

When a young African man was murdered

in the botanical gardens some months ago,

the mayor aligned cause with refugee status.

 

The dead man was blamed for his own death.

The man stabbed beneath the trees was said

to have been part of a drug syndicate.

 

The dead man under the trees which in March

were starting to reach towards their summer leaves

wasn’t numbered as a specimen in the arboretum.

 

In this ‘green city’ there is a failure of alignment

between cause and effect, and the behaviour

of the storm is placed on the behaviour

 

of others — behaviour, behaviouralism,

meteorology, shifting blame, enclave — a ginkgo

tree was planted for the 200th of the university hospital.

 

 

            John Kinsella

In support of a multicultural Australia

Graphology Mutations 50

Okay, hate-mongerers, you commandoes

of the Patriotic Front, and Reclaim Australia

and the various ‘splinter groups’ where

bigotry itches and who you are confuses,

struggles through a melange of nation-

making ‘freedoms’ and constraints, where

Ned Kelly rallies to a cause that was

never his and Neo-nazis come along

for the ride, breaking bread and skulls...

let me tell  you something. My brother,

Australian shearer respected by farmers,

surfer without borders, spent yesterday

saying  ‘Selamat Hari Raya’ to all whose

path he crossed, ate with his Malay family,

dressed in Baju Melayu bought by his  step-

daughter, celebrating Eid al-Fitr at Kuantan —

their balik kampung, and his, as much as here.

You are all part of his anecdotes — what

he has heard and seen in his life. Some of you

will have worked alongside him. I saw

a photo of him dressed as ‘head’ of his

family. It didn’t stop you being who

you want to be. Your ‘way of life’ wasn’t

threatened. Light was there as well.

and his smile left you silent, peaceful.

            John Kinsella