Musa Okwonga Profile picture
Feb 13 7 tweets 2 min read
🧵Today in Berlin. Was getting a cab to see the preview of a new TV series, on the evacuation of Jewish refugees from Marseille in WW2. Had a great chat with the cab driver about society. Just before he dropped me off, he stated the main problem for the world’s ills: the Jews.
We had been chatting for a good fifteen minutes before that so I didn’t explode at him, I patiently explained why I thought he was wrong, in the same tone we’d been using before. Sometimes this stuff feels like defusing a bomb.
The guy was young, smart, otherwise progressive. It shocked me because of how casually he said it, and also because I have been feeling recently - just this weekend, in fact - that so many of these old cruelties are reviving themselves.
I know this thread is anecdotal, so you can say, okay, pinch of salt; or, it’s just a data point. But there have been a few data points like this of late. Like the furious rant against gender and LGBT people by a loved one. The rage isn’t new. What’s new is the boldness.
I had a chat with a friend and I said, I think it’s partly this: if you look around us, there aren’t that many winners, are there? Many people aren’t getting what they want and never will - they won’t own homes, their workplaces are brutal to them. Where do they get their wins?
A lot of people will get their wins from counting their blessings. But a lot of people will lash out at others to get their wins. People who are trans, black, Jewish, or any assortment of those are an easy win for people like that. And the wins sound so satisfying. So cathartic.
These last few days have really reminded me of the seductive nature of hate. I just thought I would put this down here before I forgot about it. It feels like a moment, and not a good one. /

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More from @Okwonga

Sep 27, 2022
Watch how he brings extreme discourse into the mainstream by scoffing at its opponents. Elsewhere on here, actual historians and investigative journalists are warning of Meloni’s long embrace of fascism. But they don’t have his reach.
The left - much to the surprise of a lot of people on here - isn't just sitting on Twitter, it is organising at the grassroots all over the world, and if it was really as useless as many of those people allege then people like Meloni would have succeeded much sooner.
I see a lot of talk of "the left has not provided solutions" and I think of all the progressive journalists and conservationists and other activists who have been murdered just these last few years, precisely because the solutions they presented were in danger of being effective.
Read 6 tweets
Jun 21, 2022
Short thread.

One thing I have noticed so much recently (more than ever) is how in England we are so conditioned not to speak up even when we are angry about a social issue. It's a very hard thing to shake, this hardwired sense of deference.
I was at a festival in England recently and the subject of the royal family came up. Someone in the crowd, who had worked for the Queen as some kind of advisor, was praising the monarchy's remarkable ability to renew itself. The moderator then asked if anyone had a view on that.
There was a pause and then a silence in the decent-sized crowd and so I thought someone had to say something, so I did. I said something very obvious - that the Queen has a big problem because everyone can see the dual standards of treatment for Harry and Meghan and for Andrew.
Read 8 tweets
Apr 10, 2022
Bernardo Silva is the sous-chef of Manchester City’s midfield, rushing round and sorting out the logistics while Kevin de Bruyne prepares the recipe.
Easy to forget just how important Kyle Walker is to the success of this Manchester City team - an example of so long being such an efficient part of the machine that, if not quite underrated, they get taken for granted.
The angles on some of the short passes in this game, my God. Lots of small, skilful cuts here and there, then you zoom out and realise they’ve made an ice sculpture.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 4, 2022
(Random note:
Watching Avengers: Endgame (yet again) and for all the criticism the MCU gets, the opening hour perfectly captures the devastation of overwhelming loss. I am still surprised by how well and how long they drew that section out.)
Wait, so Josh Brolin plays Gurney Halleck with the exact same energy that he plays Thanos.
Funny thing I just noticed at the end of Endgame when Steve Rogers says goodbye to Bucky: Bucky says goodbye as if he is saying farewell forever, even though Steve is only due to be gone for a few seconds. It’s written as if Bucky knows that’s the end of their bond. So well done.
Read 4 tweets
Mar 3, 2022
It is the most grim thing when geopolitics decides that, for the sake of the greater good or to prevent wider conflict, you as a people are utterly expendable. My parents were here with Uganda, we were here with Syria and there was no line in the sand, and now we are here again.
In short, I do not believe for one second that there would be no intervention if Putin started carpet-bombing Geneva. I think a key difference for Western Europe is that the people being carpet-bombed in Ukraine look "just like us", but obviously not "just like us" enough.
I am no expert on this subject so I will try to speak with respect and caution. I am only saying this because these are exactly the same conversations we had about Syria, where there was less threat to act, and Putin was allowed to bomb hospitals and schools for *years*.
Read 7 tweets
Mar 3, 2022
1/ Please RT:
I just got off the phone with a community organiser (africansleavingukraine.com) who is trying to help black and Asian students out of Ukraine and place them with academic institutions in the EU. If any academics can help with that, please email at the above link.
2/ They are looking specifically for academic institutions that will relax entry requirements (ie that will take non-EU students without too much extra bureaucracy). A couple of institutions have already stepped up, thank God. More please.
3/ Cash is tough to come by for these students, so they are giving them crypto wallets; you can donate at the above link. The situation is grim, you know that from all the other tweets about #Ukraine, so please do share this thread widely. Journalists, please get in touch too. /
Read 4 tweets

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