Working While Black

Raymond Sheppard explains why Nhlanhla Dlamini is his nomination for person of the year. “He has shown courage in the face of adversity, he tries at all costs to avoid confrontation, and he has spoken truth to power and privilege. He is a silence breaker while sending a clear message. He is gentle, loving, caring and respecting. As a young man he has become a role model to other young people and to those not so young.

Stacey Dlamini, mother of the young Black man shot with a high-velocity nail gun, writes about racism and complicity, “I wonder how the story might have turned out had someone on Nhlanhla’s crew said to the person who shot him, “Hey, why don’t you leave the kid alone?” What if they’d come up to Nhlanhla and said, “You know man, you don’t have to accept this kind of treatment. Let’s do something about it together.” What if someone had shown him some compassion or solidarity? Or even in the aftermath, some empathy? This experience would feel different for us.”