Apartheid's History
In between all of the exciting excursions and events in Cape Town, I have been making an effort to remember the city's and country's history, the history of racism and separation. A couple trips over the last few weeks have made that history clear, and the experiences of being in the places I read about in my "History of South Africa" course have been powerful.
First off, last week I visited the District 6 Museum in what is today known as Zonnebloem. The museum serves as a memorial to the thousands of non-white men, women, and children who were forced to evacuate their homes and neighborhoods and relocate 30 kilometers away in the Cape Flats on the outskirts of Cape Town to make way for whites. After the evacuation, however, the government razed the area but failed to build any new buildings, and the whole space sat empty for years.
We were lucky enough to be guided to the museum by Donovan Muller, a 28 year veteran of Accenture who is assisting with the iX Consulting class, and who was born in District 6. He knew the museum docent, an elderly man who was also from District 6 and had a clear memory of the formed move his family had to go through. He was an amazing storyteller (and lister - he sounded like an auctioneer at times), and really made the history of the place come alive. I also saw a fellow Yalie who I had met in my section for "History of South Africa," who was doing research there.
The main, famous piece in the museum is a large, hand-drawn map of District 6 that covers most of the floor, and which Professor Magaziner had shown us on the last day of "History of South Africa". On the map, thousands of people have signed their names at the locations where they used to live. Donovan even pointed out where his own home had been. All the other pieces in the museum were donated by former residents of District 6, and we spent a while looking through their things and reading their stories.
This week, I finally made it to Robben Island to see first-hand the place I have read so much about in Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom, and the place he called home for 18 years of his life. I met up with 3 girls from my PM class, Camille, LB, Andrea, as well as 3 TAs, Trevor, Henry, and Jake, and we boarded the ferry that would take us across to the island. It was a bumpy ride, and I was feeling pretty noxious for most of the 45-minute ride. I just rested my head on my hand, closed my eyes and waited for calmer waters, and according to Camille, in that one instant I closed my eyes, the color drained from my face and I turned a greenish-blue. I made it intact and was very, very glad to stand on solid ground one again.
Once off the boat, we got right onto buses, that would drive us around the island to the various key places. A tour guide on the bus, who spoke with a very robotic rhythm, explained to us the meaning of and history behind each place, most of which I already knew from studying the history of South Africa. We drove past a graveyard where some of the lepers who once inhabited the island were buried, Robert Sobukwe's house where the "free" man was kept for years until his death, the lime quarry where Mandela and many of the other political prisoner's worked every day for 13.5 years, and Robben Island village where the guards once lived and where the museum's workers now call home. We stopped on the shore with a beautiful view of Cape Town and Table Mountain in the distance, a place near where the prisoner's had fished 30 some years before.
Then, we made it to the actual prisons where we met Sipoh, a former political prisoner who's name means "gift", who had spent several years on the island. He told us about the tragedies he endured, from solitary confinement to waterboarding and other forms of torture, and showed us his cell where he had lived with some 40 other prisoners. Finally, Sipoh led us to the building where the political prisoner's had been kept, and we saw the tiny 4-foot by 6-foot room, 4th door on the right, where Mandela had spent nearly two decades doing whatever he could to keep the struggle for equality and freedom alive.
It was another immensely powerful moment to be there in person and reflect on the awesomeness of Mandela's spirit and the struggles that this country has gone through.
First off, last week I visited the District 6 Museum in what is today known as Zonnebloem. The museum serves as a memorial to the thousands of non-white men, women, and children who were forced to evacuate their homes and neighborhoods and relocate 30 kilometers away in the Cape Flats on the outskirts of Cape Town to make way for whites. After the evacuation, however, the government razed the area but failed to build any new buildings, and the whole space sat empty for years.
We were lucky enough to be guided to the museum by Donovan Muller, a 28 year veteran of Accenture who is assisting with the iX Consulting class, and who was born in District 6. He knew the museum docent, an elderly man who was also from District 6 and had a clear memory of the formed move his family had to go through. He was an amazing storyteller (and lister - he sounded like an auctioneer at times), and really made the history of the place come alive. I also saw a fellow Yalie who I had met in my section for "History of South Africa," who was doing research there.
The main, famous piece in the museum is a large, hand-drawn map of District 6 that covers most of the floor, and which Professor Magaziner had shown us on the last day of "History of South Africa". On the map, thousands of people have signed their names at the locations where they used to live. Donovan even pointed out where his own home had been. All the other pieces in the museum were donated by former residents of District 6, and we spent a while looking through their things and reading their stories.
This week, I finally made it to Robben Island to see first-hand the place I have read so much about in Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom, and the place he called home for 18 years of his life. I met up with 3 girls from my PM class, Camille, LB, Andrea, as well as 3 TAs, Trevor, Henry, and Jake, and we boarded the ferry that would take us across to the island. It was a bumpy ride, and I was feeling pretty noxious for most of the 45-minute ride. I just rested my head on my hand, closed my eyes and waited for calmer waters, and according to Camille, in that one instant I closed my eyes, the color drained from my face and I turned a greenish-blue. I made it intact and was very, very glad to stand on solid ground one again.
Once off the boat, we got right onto buses, that would drive us around the island to the various key places. A tour guide on the bus, who spoke with a very robotic rhythm, explained to us the meaning of and history behind each place, most of which I already knew from studying the history of South Africa. We drove past a graveyard where some of the lepers who once inhabited the island were buried, Robert Sobukwe's house where the "free" man was kept for years until his death, the lime quarry where Mandela and many of the other political prisoner's worked every day for 13.5 years, and Robben Island village where the guards once lived and where the museum's workers now call home. We stopped on the shore with a beautiful view of Cape Town and Table Mountain in the distance, a place near where the prisoner's had fished 30 some years before.
Then, we made it to the actual prisons where we met Sipoh, a former political prisoner who's name means "gift", who had spent several years on the island. He told us about the tragedies he endured, from solitary confinement to waterboarding and other forms of torture, and showed us his cell where he had lived with some 40 other prisoners. Finally, Sipoh led us to the building where the political prisoner's had been kept, and we saw the tiny 4-foot by 6-foot room, 4th door on the right, where Mandela had spent nearly two decades doing whatever he could to keep the struggle for equality and freedom alive.
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