Red Table Talks and My mum

I just watched Jada Pinkett-Smith’s first Red Table Talk with her mother Adrienne Banfield Jones and daughter Willow. I wish it had been longer than 18mins!!! I hope she does more soon!!! This particular video was released on Mothers day, befittingly so.

Jada’s idea is to use the Red Table as an open and honest communication zone, where everyone sitting at the table can talk openly and candidly about their views, opinions and feelings on specific issues. Personally, I find it VERY hard to be that open and honest with people I’m close to whether family or friends. I’ve grown up watching the American culture of sharing and openness on various talk shows but that has always been too foreign a concept to apply to my own life. Our African culture tends to be very detached from feelings in that sense. A lot of things go left unsaid in a family setting; there may be that type of communication between a husband and wife, but rarely among the members of a family. So to see it happening across 3 generations was interesting.

The ladies addressed 3 issues: whether Jada views her mother Adrienne as a bad mother because of her drug addition during Jada’s formative years, what Jada struggles with the most when it comes to being a mother and a wife, and finally Willow’s biggest regret in life so far. Take a peak below….

 

And on a personal note…

As for the second part of this post I wanted to share something that made me smile: my mother’s smile. My sister and I have spent most of our recent years away from our parents being that we’re often attending schools far from home so most Mother’s days for my mum now consist of quick phonecalls or texts or emails. However my sister returned home a few days ago and decided to surprise my mum with a home made belated mothers day cake. And she sent this picture of my mum with the cake:

My mother’s smile and laugh is legendary in our household, she always laughs like it’s the last thing she’ll ever do, she puts her heart and soul into it! I’m kinda bummed I missed it but I’m happy that she was happy.

Happy Belated Mothers day to all the mothers out there! ♥

In case you missed it: Nandos vs Santam

Nandos has become the ‘Dennis the Menace’ of the advertising world in Africa, always putting out the most cheeky but funny adverts. Since their Christmas dictator commercial featuring a Robert Mugabe lookalike (that got them into trouble in Zimbabwe) they’ve gotten braver recently choosing to take on Santam.

They imitated one of Santam’s tv commercials and of course Santam (an insurance company) took notice. A hilarious cheeky tv commercial ‘battle’ ensued that resulted in Nando’s giving free meals to charity. We need more ad battles like these because they produce adverts you actually want to see during the tv commercial breaks! Well, if they are done properly that is. Take a look at the commercial back and forth between Nandos and Santam below.

Creativity in Motion: Botswana at London Fashion Week

In the fashion world exposure is everything!!

Limkokwing University assisted the Botswana High Commission in the United Kingdom in hosting a fashion showcase at the Limkokwing London campus, featuring the five Batswana designers who represented their country in the inaugural ‘International Fashion Showcase’ at London Fashion Week 2012.

The ‘International Fashion Showcase’ is the first ever collaboration between the British Council and the British Fashion Council. It is part of the Fashion 2012 Culture Programme developed to celebrate the year of the Olympics and Paralympics and honours its values of international respect, excellence, equality and friendship.

This video captures the highlights on the two-storey runway at 106 Picadilly, the home of Limkokwing University in London and the interviews with designers, stylists and guests after the show. Pula!

Check out the video below. Lets hope this is the first of many fashion shows. A big congratulations to all the designers from Botswana that went to show their work!

Share your thoughts: Kony 2012

A campaign aiming to make Ugandan LRA rebel leader Joseph Kony famous with the goal of getting people to push for his capture has gone viral on the Internet. It has brought up many opposing views on the matter that have held my interest in the past few days. Watch the video that caused all this below, read the articles and give your view. Will you support this campaign or not?

Response from a Ugandan female blogger…

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/e/16711680/wshhpkYA0wFQbHvPf863

Article from Justice in Conflict:

Taking ‘Kony 2012′ Down A Notch

Article from The Independant.co.uk:

Stop Kony, yes. But don’t stop asking questions

Article from The Daily What:

On Kony 2012

Article from The Pursuit:

Kony 2012: A Perspective on the Hype

I personally will cautiously watch from the sidelines…I am slightly skeptical of the rosy picture painted and the apparent simplicity portrayed of the issue. However I will not disagree that he should be brought to justice but that is not where the solution should end.

This is also another testament of how powerful social media is in today’s digital society.I am in awe of the power a link has in our world today.And to think I had my first Internet experience less than a decade ago…simply amazing.