Rails Under My Back by Jeffery Renard Allen

These are among the many reasons why I have decided to leave America and make Joburg my home. Bungee jump in Soweto or meet friends for dinner and drinks in a trendy area like Maboneng, wine taste at the Butchery, browse bookshops, pop into a gallery or shop on Vilakazi Street, check out what the vendors are selling on the sidewalk. What I love so much about this city, the edgy cosmopolitan vibe where you can do you in the company of the like-minded. That’s Joburg, both the fear and the sense of connection, togetherness. Once outside, the photographer and my friends stood on the sidewalk and waited with me until my Uber arrived. We stayed until the photographer closed up shop and secured his place for the night. In a space made vibrant by cutting-edge photographs, paintings, and carvings. I recall the afternoon I met some friends at the studio of a celebrated photographer on Constitution Hill. In the city, you feel all eyes on you, a mark. We don’t have the testing kits.įor me that means avoiding Joburg proper and staying on the outskirts, mostly in the northern suburbs. When the Minister of Health was asked about the secret behind the zero case of COVID-19, this is what he had to say “It is very simple. You take every precaution.īreaking News: Burundi is the only African country without any case of coronavirus. Those who live in free-standing houses keep dogs and guns. You live behind bars, gates on windows and doors. A city of gated communities where you might pass through a “boom” gate to enter into a neighborhood, then another security gate to gain access to an apartment complex.

And signs boasting of “armed response” from private security companies. Nowhere else in the world where you’ll see as many properties shielded behind high walls topped by electrified wiring.

Rails Under My Back by Jeffery Renard Allen