Johanasburg, here I come
We spent the night at another B&B in Johannesburg, and I gave a Comcast Cares t-shirt to the owner.
I was getting excited to go to the Apartheid Museum – I am ashamed to admit, I was not so sure what Apartheid meant. Back in the USA, all I remember was large groups of people running, fighting, getting bit by dogs, and of course the chanting and dancing. Here is what I learned; the movement began back in the ’40’s. It began with Dr. Malan, a former minister of the Dutch Reformed Church and newspaper editor. Dr. Malan’s platform was known as Apartheid, which was a new term. It simply means apartness. There were many people, white, black, men and women, who fought for this movement. Some even lost their lives just to get better treatment for the Africans.
When we entered the museum, the machine picks random people to go thru different doors. My niece went thru the door marked colored, I went thru the door marked Whites Only! I saw signs of privilege, like if you were white you could do every and any thing. My niece saw oppression and limitations on where you could eat, walk, sit, and shop. A
frica comprised of 90% blacks and 10% whites, and the whites ruled everything. If you were black you had NO RiGHTS!
While some of this oppression was felt in America, it was not as corrupt and harsh as what the Africans had to endure. You had to carry a passport every time you left your house. One of the stories I read was about a 16 year-old boy who went to school and discovered that he left one of his books at home. He ran home to retrieve the book and was stopped by the police. Because he had no passport on him he was thrown into jail. He tried to tell them he had the passport at school. He ended up in prison until he was an adult. Just one of the many heart-wrenching stories about the total injustice inflicted upon humans just because of the color of their skin. This museum needs to be in more places around the world.
While I was there I saw many nationalities and ages, and we all were feeling different emotions as we took in the exhibits. I could have spent three days here because one day wasn’t enough to absorb the entire message.
They chose Mandela to became the leader of the ANC (African National Congress). He was a lawyer and very out spoken about the corrupt court system. Taking these responsibilities was putting him, Winnie (his second wife; he had three), and his kids (six) in danger. I read his quotes and watched films about him and the movement. This man took the call from God to move a Nation and the World. Along the way he had to endure the harshest treatment that is unimaginable to humankind. I was able to relate to him on so many levels.
Here is one of his many quotes: “Motho ke motho ka batho: a person is a person through other people.” He said this came from an African proverb. He also stated this about honesty: “The first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself”.
This was an eye-opening lesson, because not all blacks in Africa wanted Apartheid. Some of them felt that it would be best to leave things as they were. They didn’t feel that going thru this trouble was going to make any change. These were the people who turned on there own race as they reported where the secret meetings and rallies would take place.
At the museum, I gave several gifts away. I gave ‘Sister and Friends’ to two of the workers. I gave the Legacy Church International and ‘The Brothers of Hammer’ T-shirts. The workers at the museum were proud to receive the gifts, especially the one from the Legacy Church.
While in the museum one of the exhibits had five different colors of sticks. Each of these colors, red,blue,white,yellow, and green, represent a part of Mandela spirit. Once you read the different quotes from him, you were to select the color that best described you. I was yellow thru and thru, and not just because it is my favorite color, either. To be honest I had a hard time choosing between that and the green. So I took both stick colors and we were to place them in this receptacle along with what others selected. Yellow describes Resilience, Honesty and Loyalty. Green describes Leadership, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation.
As you walked thru the museum it was evident of the impact this man had around the world. All races of people were as absorbed and enlighten as I was in learning about him and this movement. His belief have caused the entire nation to move with compassion about the treatment of mankind.
This last quote from Mandela was my all time favorite – “I can not help it if the ladies take note of me; I am not going to protest.”
I will be going to another country, Botswana, where I am looking forward to going on a safari…
More next time… stay blessed.