January 2020 Updates.

The history of Johannesburg is a long one. The first people who lived in the city were the San people. They were hunter gathers who used stone tools thousands of years ago. The San people are some of the oldest groups of people in human histor. By the 1200’s, there were groups of Bantu speaking people who moved southwards from central Africa into South Africa. They came and met the San people. There are stone walled ruins of Sotho-Tswana towns and villages being scattered around the parts of the former Transvaal in which Johannesburg is situated. Many of the places have the ruins of Sotho-Tswana mines and iron smelting furnaces. This suggests that the area was being utilized for its mineral wealth before the arrival of Europeans or the discovery of gold. The most prominent site within Johannesburg is Melville Kopoies, which has an iron smelting furnace. After the Great Trek, European pastoralists started to settle in Transvaal. Some of them chose to farm where Johannesburg was to rise later. Each burgher (citizen) was entitled to at least one farm, measuring 1500 morgen or about 3100 acres. The first recorded discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand was made by Jan Gerrit Bantjes in June 1884, on the farm Vogelstruisfontein. Other farms to become famous later included Langlaagte, Turffontein, Doornfontein, and Braamfontein. George Harrison is today credited as the man who discovered an outcrop of the Main Reef of gold on the farm Langlaagte in February 1886. By May 12, 1886, Harrison and his partner, George Walker came into a prospecting agreement with the owner of Langlaagte, one G.C. Oosthuizen. Two days later Colonel Ignatius Ferreira staked out his camp on Turffontein to serve as a center for diggers. Louwrens Geldenhuys found the Main Reef on Turffontein and Henry Nourse located it on Doornfontein. On September 8, 1886 nine farms, extending from Driefontein in the east to Roodepoort in the west, were declared public diggings. Carl von Brandis was appointed as the mining commissioner for the area. On November 8, 1886 a diggers' committee was elected to assist the mining commissioner in the execution of his duties. The earliest mining actions werealong and adjacent to the outcrops of the main reef. The diggers did the work by themselves at first.

The diggers had little equipment. The pits grew deeper. They need more labor people and machinery. So, they recruited black African human beings to perform the unskilled work. Machinery was imported from Europe. It is important to note that black people in South Africa were victims of colonialism, imperialism, and racial injustice. Fuel had to be found to power the machinery. There was coal found on the far east Rand at Springs and Boksburg as well as the construction of the Rand Steam Tram from colliery to the gold fields and into Johannesburg facilitated the growth of the industry in the early years. The coast has the railway. By September 1892, the Cape trailway reached the Rand. Two years later, the line Lourcenco Marques (now Maputo) arrived in the Republic. A third route opened from Durban the next year. In 1890, the MacArthur-Forrest cyanidation process successfully overcame the problems of treating the refractory ore from deeper levels.

It soon became apparent that individual diggers were different than those who had the task of mining gold in Johannesburg. Wealth could only be recovered by means of deep-shaft working and by capital-intensive companies having the necessary technical skills. Individual claims were soon joined into small mining groups. The amalgamation of smaller mining groups became a common occurrence and by 1895 the scene was dominated by a limited number of large monopolistic companies. These companies were: the Wernher-Beit-Eckstein group, Consolidated Goldfields, the J B Robinson group, the S. Neumann group, the Albu group, the A Goerz group, the Anglo-French group and the Lewis-Marks group. Of these, Cecil John Rhodes's Consolidated Goldfields was the most important. As many people know, Cecil Rhodes was the racist British oligarch who wanted the British Empire to dominate the world. In 1893, Johannesburg’s first stock exchange was opened. It is the seat of the South African stock exchange and the financial heartland today. The stock exchange is now at Sandton, Johannesburg. The Zuid-Afrikaansche Republic became the single biggest gold producer in the world, with a contribution of 27.5 percent in 1898. The city of Johannesburg was founded by many events. It was a town at first. The area was named after tow member of the ZAR named Christaan Johannes Joubert and Johannes Rissik. By 1887, the people in the area petitioned the government to proclaim a town council for the area. The proclamation was issued in November 1887. There was a health committee. The area was defined as Johannesburg. The stands were known as Marshall Town and Ferreira’s Town. Johannesburg was divided into 12 wards in 1897.  The Rissik Street Post Office was built in 1897, having been designed by the architect Sytze Wierda. The Post Office was at one time the tallest building in Johannesburg. The Post Office became a national monument in 1978, and it remained in operation until 1996 when the South African Post Office vacated the building. The monument was gutted by a fire in 2009. The old City Hall is opposite the Post Office in Rissik Street.



Equipment for boxing is very diverse involving weight classes and regions of the world. Boxing deals with forceful, repetitive punching. Boxers focus on hand eye coordination and other multifacted skills. Therefore, you have to use all legitimate precautions. In that sense, damage to bones in the hand is minimized. Most trainers don’t allow boxers to train and spar without wrist wraps and boxing gloves. Hand warps are used to make sure that the bones are secure in the hands. Obviously, gloves are used to protect the hand from blunt injury. It allows gives the boxers the opportunity to throw punches with more force than if they didn’t use them. Ever since the 19th century, gloves have been required in competition. Modern boxing gloves are much heavier than worn in the early 20th century. Before each fight, each boxer agrees to the weight of the gloves prior to each fight. They know that lighter gloves allow heavy punches to inflict more damage. The brand of gloves can deal with the impact of punches. This is usually decided before the match happens. Both sides are allowed to inspect the wraps and gloves of the opponent to ensure both are within agreed upon specifications and no tampering has taken place. Fighters use mouth guards to protect their teeth and gums from injury and to cushion the jaw. This decreases the chance of a knockout. Both fighters must wear soft soled shoes to reduce the damage from accidental or intentional steeping on feet. Older boxing boots are similar to a professional wrestler’s boots Modern boxing shoes and boots are similar to their amateur wrestling counterparts. Boxers use punching bags to test their skills. There is the small, tear drop shaped speed bag to hone reflexes and repetitive punching skills. A large cylindrical heavy bag is filled with sand, a synthetic substitute, or water to practice power punching and body blows. The double end bag is connected by elastic on the top and bottom and moves randomly upon getting struck (it helps the fighter work on accuracy and reflexes). There are other distinctive boxing equipment that helps to train boxers’ strength, speed, agility, and stamina. There are free weights, rowing machines, jump rope, and medicine balls. Boxers use punch/focus mitts that a trainer calls out certain combinations and the fighter strikes the mitts accordingly. This is a great exercise to help the boxer to develop his or her stamina. The boxer isn’t allowed to go at his or her pace. The trainer dictates the combination training. The boxer focuses on output and volume being higher. Trainers can make boxers improve their footwork and distances more accurately. Boxing matches happen in a boxing ring. The raised platform is surrounded by ropes attached to posts rising in each corner. The term “ring” has come to be used as a metaphor for many aspects of prize fighting in general.


The essence of the heretical prosperity gospel movement is the belief that wealth is equated to spiritual enlightenment. In other words, its followers believe that the more money that you have, the more blessings that God gave you. Some go into the extreme to proclaim the lie that anyone poor is equivalent to that person experiencing a curse from God (not socioeconomic issues of structural injustices). Sometimes, the most righteous people suffer issues or problems. Yet, people can look to faith which is invisible (Hebrews 11:24-27) in order to have joy and peace. It is not a secret that real followers of Jesus Christ will not be loved by the world and will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). This is why the Waldensians were in risk of death by those (i.e. the Vatican hierarchy) who wanted to prevent them from translating the Bible in their own tongue. That is why William Tyndale was murdered in Europe for just translating the Bible into English. That is why Christians in many nations of the world experience religious persecution. The view that God wants all of his children to be wealthy isn’t just embraced by people like Benny Hinn (who recently renounced the prosperity gospel in 2019) or Kenneth Hagan. It has been embraced by many preachers of the new Prosperity Gospel. Hagin is bold to say that God wants us to wear the best clothes, drive the best cars, and to have riches and more riches. Ever since I was a child, I didn’t believe in that type of a gospel. There is nothing wrong with having money. Yet, money is never the determining factor of one’s salvation or character. A rich or poor person can be wicked. A rich or poor person can be saved. The OT and NT are rather clear that lusting after riches readily is linked to destruction (1 Timothy 6:9-10). Creflo Dollar and the Freemason Kenneth Copeland are famous for desiring money and riches at the expense of sound spiritual doctrine. There is no evidence of Jesus Christ mentioning that his followers must make people rich by the Gospel. That is real. The Prosperity Gospel and the World Faith movement teach that faith is a force that can be manipulated by words to form health and wealth. Some extremists believe that sickness and poor living is a result of a lack of faith, which is ludicrous and disrespectful. History and life experiences just make us aware that wealth is not directly related to holiness. The historian Kat Bowler wrote a book entitled, "Blessed." In that book, she showed how many lower income Christians sending their hard earned money to prosperity gospel churches in trying to get wealthy. Bowler write that the paster and his family live in luxury while many members of those churches experience trouble paying for their bills. The book of Job showed a man who lost his wealth and his family. Yet, Job was tested and became better as a result of his faith and action to become a better human being.




Hip hop is a musical genre that has stood the test of time. It is a type of music filled with innovative creativity, constant changing over the generations, and power. Hip hop music was birthed in the Bronx, NYC in 1973. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip hop music (which was created by Kool Herc, who has Afro-Caribbean heritage), it is important to realize its origin and impact. That is why I do plan on writing an eight part series on the history, culture, and legacy of hip hop music. Now, it it is time to do this great undertaking. First, it is important to note that hip hop is a culture. It isn’t just about rapping. Hip hop consists about DJing, breakdancing, beatboxing, graffiti, rapping battling, and working in the community. Hip hop early on was a way for rival gangs to have peace. Back in the early 1970’s, New York City saw deindustrialization and decaying poor areas. It was just a few years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was unjustly assassinated. Nixon was President. Social movements for change existed. Poverty, economic exploitation, racism, and police brutality were in NYC plus nationwide in America. Hip hop was birthed in the struggle of the oppressed to survive literally. Oppressed people created hip hop as a means for them to see hope, to focus on self-expression, and to develop their own identities. Hip hop was invented by black people. By the 1970’s, Latino Americans also worked heavily in the development of early hip hop too. Also, hip hop is a universal culture. That is why hip hop can be expressed by people of every nationality, of every sex, of every color, and of every background. Hip hop definitely contributed to improved relations among human beings. Hip hop is not without controversy. Every musical genre has been debated. We know of those debates. This series will talk about these hip hop debates from certain lyrics in hip hop to the role hip hop has to the overall world society. I won't sugarcoat issues. What is true is that sexism, and other forms of bigotry are wrong, and they should be abolished in any society. We know of the legends of hip hop like Rakim, Nas, Outkast, Salt-n-Pepa, Wu Tang Clan, and others. It is important to recognize the diversity of hip hop. Many underground artists and international hip hop artists have made great contributions in the evolution of hip hop succinctly. Hip hop fashion is global, and it has influenced pop, gospel, rock, and other genres of music. When you listen to slang, hip hop music has influenced it. When you witness how people dress fashion (from shoes, shirts, jerseys, and coats), hip hop is very notorious for its fashion designs. I listened to hip hop as a child in an urban community. As a black person, this music is definitely personal to me. Hip hop music is very integral part of the black experience and of black culture. You can’t talk about hip hop without acknowledging women MCs like Missy Elliot, Queen Latifah, Jean Grae, Rhapsody, and Lauryn Hill. After almost 50 years, hip hop continues to inspire the world. The first part of this hip hop series will come in the summer of 2020.


By Timothy