Give up, giving up.
Thoughts, or something like it.
Come, then, comrades, the European game has finally ended; we must find something different. We today can do everything, so long as we do not imitate Europe, so long as we are not obsessed by the desire to catch up with Europe (Frantz Fanon).
I started writing this from the lobby of a hotel during my holidays, but got distracted, because the news cycle continues, and follows me with breaking news whenever I decided to settle in a hot destination on a beach (like some European decided we should do probably after World War II, but more on tourism in another newsletter). For those who have the luxury of shutting off – the ‘I don’t watch the news it’s depressing’ crowd – congratulations, I don’t have such a luxury, and I never will. Instead, I refresh Al Jazeera on a constant basis to see what new atrocities have been committed by Israel (aided by the US) on my people.
I returned to the UK and what they’ve termed ‘far-right protests’ – re: racist riots – erupted. And just like that, after causing so much damage (both physically and mentally), they gave up. It made me think of the relations between easily giving up and having something to believe in. Watching the news coverage, the behaviour appeared to be a bunch of people gathering who looped the song Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit and did not really understand why they were there but wanted to ‘break stuff’, and blame ‘immigrants’ for it. We know that they did not give up, and the message continues, through the media, the spokespeople, and the politicians who fuelled this.
The behaviour mirrors a society that has given up and is crumbling. The lack of respect for one’s environment is baffling but no longer surprising. Walk down the streets of London to observe the litter, the general aggression and rudeness, the reckless cycling and parking of electric bikes, people who walk the streets on their phone without regard that we live in a city, the men who urinate in public in broad daylight and become aggressive when you call them out, etc., etc.,
There are links between giving up and observing some Olympic athletes give up. For example, the Italian boxer Angela Carini who quit after 46 seconds of fighting the Algerian Imane Khelif because she was ‘hit so hard’. I am unclear if Angela’s approach to boxing is conceptual, but the point is to hit. Imane is a cis-woman that the internet became convinced is trans based on a test conducted by the International Boxing Agency, a Russian agency, and even though the West loves to discredit everything Russian, it seems transphobia trumps anti-Russian sentiment in this case. Haters gonna hate: Imane won gold because she did not give up, despite the incredible obstacles she faced.
Juxtapose this to the women’s BMX competition where several participants fell: the Czech and US American riders had a slip at the start of their run and immediately gave up, riding off in tears after seconds, whereas one of the Chinese riders – who had a much bigger wipe out mid way – got up and continued her run. After all, people train four years to get this opportunity, make it count if you’re not endangering your health. In other words, small signs that the West has given up. Others have more to lose.
The pressure proves too much, and more alarmingly, we are encouraging athletes to compete at a younger age. But if the pressure is too much, there is a choice to not compete. The fact that the Olympics are so corporate and professionalised now takes the fun out generally and the fun out of sports that were once subcultures and extreme: skateboarding, BMX, breakdancing (how is this now a sport?)1.
Listening to one extremely confident sprinter in a press conference that he has been working with five therapists is very WTF for me. You run 100m/200m track. It’s impressive you can run it so fast but what does it contribute to humanity? We must seriously start asking ourselves these questions because the Olympics are an outdated idea: not just by being wasteful but with what they promote – rampant individual or ‘team’ competition, subtle racism masquerading as we are the world peace on earth, selective political stances2, celebration of certain bodies over others, bankruptcy to encourage tourism, and the winners are those who can afford it.
I have written about my distaste for large spectacle events previously and do not normally watch the Olympics, but this year, we were on a beach holiday and the evenings are not spent clubbing with 20-something Brits and Germans with zero self-awareness and tacky taste, but indoors watching TV in foreign languages. The Olympics need no translation.
We watched most of the opening ceremony and gymnastics 🤸🏼♀️, diving and BMX. The Olympics are composed of a bunch of athletes from Global North countries, Japan, China and South Korea competing against each other. It's not interesting to watch because the competition repeats itself (countries who can afford to send multiple athletes).
The opening ceremony had people up in arms about insulting Christianity. I think it appeared like another way of imposing a US-centric definition of inclusivity and diversity on others without understanding what it means elsewhere. To me, the ceremony was predictable, long, and all over the place. The speech was tone-deaf (no Global North or South here!), and the best part was Céline Dion, mostly because France gave centre stage to a Canadian-Québécois artist. Also, why on earth did they host surfing 🏄🏼♀️ in Tahiti? If the host country can’t host a sport, remove it from the competition. Can we talk about why we are spending so much money on these events and what purpose it serves?
Things
I will be part of the London Design Festival’s Global Design Forum on the panel Please Design Responsibly: Redefining the Role of the Designer. 14 Sep, free entry, just book.
On 19 September, I am taking part in a symposium hosted by RIBA. Details to come.
My monograph Design Otherwise: Transforming Design Education in the Arab Region is available for pre-order from Bloomsbury. Planning a book tour, details TBD.
Read
This article on Audre Lourde’s Palestine Exception stance and her fallout with June Jordan had some people very disappointed. I always felt uncomfortable with Lourde’s celebrity, so I never cited her, and now I know why.
Watch
Why are clothes so bad now? ➡️ interesting analysis
Listen
I recently had the chance to see Toro Y Moi’s DJ live, where he played a mixture and the latest Genius of Love cover.
The live version of Eb’atli Gawab features one of my favourite elements of Arabic songs: the ending with the dramatic thank you to the crowd.
Have we taken our love affair with all things late 90s/Y2K too far with the inclusion of breakdancing?
Russia and Belarus are banned from the 2024 Olympics, but not Israel. See who has been banned throughout history from the Olympics: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/26/which-countries-have-been-banned-from-participating-in-the-olympics