When you're down - HOX Projects

Don’t be a dick

I had just moved to the Netherlands after I found that I had crashed dramatically in the Caribbean. Broke, unemployed, depressed and shit. Down. Looking for back up.
I was at De Dam in Amsterdam with my son. No matter what, I had a little boy to entertain, so we were doing the broke tourist thing. He didn’t know better anyway.

Then he saw one of those ugly living statues things and he wanted to take a picture with it. I think I had one euro and some change left on me.
I gestured at the dude and placed all my money on his little table. I don’t know why I didn’t talk to him; maybe I figured statues don’t talk.

Anyway; I could see his eyes through the little holes in the mask, they were glaring at me with disgust and calling me a broke n.gg.h bitch and saying “no go away with your cheap ass. I don’t stand here for that small change!” He shook his head to go along with it.
My eyes begged back at him “please givvadadabreak”, but he couldn’t give a shit.

He stepped off his little pedestal, walked to the table, picked up the coins I could pay him and gave them back to me. Then he waved me off like a horse would shoo a little annoying shit-fly away with his tail.

I never felt more depressed in my life. I had traveled all over the world, but in my few months of downtime I was wordlessly bitchslapped by this obviously unambitious dude who makes his living just standing around.

When you’re down, the only way to go is up. And when you’re up, help somebody else up. There’ll be a lot of opportunities for that in the coming days. Don’t be a dick.

I’m sure he’s still standing there, up on that pedestal, probably still looking down on people, being an immobile dick behind a mask.

As for me … Lil Wayne dropped my theme song a few years later.

I had never been a wordless dick to anyone, so unlike him, I had the ambition and places to go, plus people willing to help me back up.

And I’m paying it forward. Are you?

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IN DE PERS

Welternaehrung

I was approached to write an article for the online journal Welternaehrung in Germany, that dealt with migration and I slipped in some of my views on how Governments should take responsibility.
And I took advantage of the opportunity to express how proud I still am with Amsterdam Zuidoost where adults banned together so the -mostly migrant- young people from the neighborhood, did not participate in violent and ignorant conspiracy driven anti-COVID-measure riots that shook the Netherlands a few weeks ago.
The Germans then translated my views to German.

Ich bin stolz darauf, dass ich dazu aufgefordert wurde

Voice of African Migrants

Two weeks ago I spoke briefly at a GFMD webinar on migration and racism. I spoke about my work with AFRO Magazine and Weekend College. Next thing you know, a journalist in Nigeria tells me he wants to interview me for the Voice of African Migrants. Honored to be featured by them.

“How did the developed world become the developed world?”

OneWORLD

Op 1 juli vieren we dat de kolonisator zich bewust werd van de menselijkheid van zwarte mensen, stelt Marvin Hokstam. “Ik heb niks met Keti Koti.”

OneWORLD

Het maakt niet uit of Ron Jans een ‘goeie vent’ is, zijn gedrag moet worden veroordeeld, schrijft Marvin Hokstam. ‘Het is best mogelijk om stil te worden tijdens je bezoek aan Robbeneiland én een blinde vlek te hebben voor racistisch taalgebruik.’

NUJ

Marvin comments in the upcoming issue of the union’s magazine:

“This is about journalists being aware that the way they approach a subject is how it is perceived by their communities. The fact that there is still debate about this in 2019 is concerning, especially when journalists and newspapers appear to take sides in favour of those supporting black Piet.

NLTimes

The motion passed by the British journalists’ union originated from the NUJ Black Members Council, on the initiative of Marivn Hokstam, Founder and Managing Editor of the Dutch publication Afro Magazine. Hokstam is a member of the Dutch branch of the NUJ.

Zwarte Piet is Racisme.nl

Journalisten die verslag doen van het zwarte Pietendebat dienen zich te houden aan de journalistieke regel dat “van journalisten geen materiaal dient te komen dat discriminatie op basis van ras en kleur bevordert”. Dit staat in een motie die vandaag werd aangenomen door de National Executive Council (NEC) van de Britse Unie van Journalisten NUJ in London. De motie was aangezwengeld door Marvin Hokstam, uitgever van AFRO Magazine, in reactie op wat hij onethische verslaggeving over de zwarte piet demonstranten door Nederlandse journalisten noemde.

Guava

Marvin Speaks – A conversation with Marvin Hokstam

ParBode

Marvin Hokstam, opgegroeid “in een klein dorp in Suriname, op de rand van het oerwoud”, zoals hij het zelf lyrisch uitdrukt, is journalist, schrijver, publicist en communicatieconsultant. Hij begon als student journalistiek aan de AHKCO in Suriname, en behaalde in Engeland een postgraduate degree in mediastudies. Tegenwoordig is hij in Nederland actief als schrijver en uitgever van het online platform AFRO Magazine, en als projectleider van het onderwijsondersteuningsproject Weekend College van Amsterdam-Zuidoost.

721-News election to NUJ/BMC

Former The Daily Herald journalist Marvin Hokstam has been elected to the Black Members Council of the British National Union of Journalists. After he shared news of this on his Facebook page last week, we asked him about it.

Interview door Socialisme.nu

Marvin Hokstam is redacteur van het Afro Magazine. Al vijfentwintig jaar is hij een journalist die schrijft over onderwerpen die de internationale Afrogemeenschap aangaan. Hij sprak met Mark Kilian over de nasleep van de Caribische orkanen, koloniaal racisme en climate justice.

Opiniestuk in Parool

Een museum over zwarte geschiedenis moet geschiedenis, emoties en nuances vertellen vanuit een zwart perspectief, schrijft Marvin Hokstam.

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