An Appeal For Johannesburg and Her Beauty Below the Surface

As the weather gets warmer I begin to think more and more about South Africa. I had been following Paul Verryn's story since we returned but that was the small connection that remained for me with South Africa until now. Somehow the feeling of the sun on my neck and a breeze at my back made me want to become reacquainted with a country that I had known for three weeks in January. Many of the people on this trip found an immense connection with Cape Town. It was a warm destination with a jovial disposition, but Johannesburg has left its mark on me. The city reminded me of one similar to that in Ellison's Invisible Man, in the sense that I sadly did not get a chance to know people better than face value. Watching the metropolis pass by in our bus and being gawked at like an exhibition as I ignorantly stared back, I hoped that we might cross that barrier. Paul Verryn recently was released from his suspension, and is once again bridging the gap between two worlds, South Africans, and the African Immigrant community that now floods Johannesburg streets. I admire that man and his modern day activism, and one thing I regret from this trip is not getting out there getting my hands dirty and working with those people that passed by our bus. It is not enough just to observe, but to do and to be Johannesburg is an admirable intrepid pursuit. On my next trip I will not just be a fish in a bowl observing, or a caged bird trapped behind the walls of suburbia, but rather an idealistic with my eyes pealed for those invisible men and women who walk the streets of Johannesburg. Jo'burg is ripe with realism and its streets were and are still soaked with blood bled for freedom. Johannesburg is where the battle was and is, where children facing rubber bullets and tear gas, marched for books and their own right to language, where a neighborhood had enough strength in activism to power a nation, and one block held the houses of three Nobel peace prize winners. To Quote Patrick Pearce; "Beware of the Risen people, ye you have harried and held, ye you have bullied and bribed." Out of Soweto is where they rose, and I want to rise with them. For all the beauty Capetown held, Jo'Burg freed a people , and it was a pleasure to be in her presence.
-Sam

Remembering my Moment

South Africa was really one formative moment for me. That moment was visiting Nelson Mandela's cell. I completely changed then. Its funny, I've talked about it so much since returning, but I can't get it out my head. It really did make me a new person. I've always believed that going to South Africa was going to be only an intellectual experience, and I wanted to treat it that way. I refused to give into fun. How could I, when everything around me had such a tragic history?

Here's the thing: I like to avoid problems around me. Call it compartmentalizing. Call it being selfish. Call it moving forward. I don't know what I'd call it yet. I know though, that since my moment I have been making a conscious effort to make a difference to engage in the issues in this world, my personal life, and in the community of Drew University.

I am an activist now. The earthquake struck Haiti while we were abroad, and because of what we saw, I knew I had to do something. I raised money, I donated food, I donated clothes. And I did it for him. For Mandela. Just like I walked with my classmates in the sun, went to a club with them, and finally embraced having a good time in addition to learning. I did those things, those wonderful things, for Mandela, for South Africa. South Africa needs smiles and laughter, and I had to give it to them.

Since returning home, I have become exponentially more outgoing with people, places, things, all nouns outside my comfort zone. And I can't wait to see where it takes me.

Kestin's Musings on South Africa

It is very interesting talking to people about our trip to South Africa. Some are very interested in hearing about the people we met and the state of the country today, others want to hear about how beautiful South Africa is - they want to hear about the game drive and the animals and the wide open plains stereotypically associated with Africa. Still others seem to only want reinforcement of their stereotypes, they want to hear about the poverty and the townships but they don't seem to care about the people who lived there or ways in which to improve South African economy. But the thing is - our trip was a little bit of all of that. It was about the people we met and their stories, it was about the beauty of South Africa, it was about the poverty and the townships and sometimes even our own stereotypes, but it was also about breaking them.



South Africa is a truly unique country that is full of contradictions. I don't think it is possible for me to come up with one moment that defined the trip - the entire experience was necessary to create a tiny window of what South Africa is. And so I'll leave you with, not the most touching moment of the trip certainly, but one of the most endearing:

Lunch with Ludy

One of the best spots in Cape Town that I was lucky enough to encounter was the Rainbow Experience. Here, you could read, listen to music, shop, and enjoy a light cafe lunch. When I went to the Rainbow Experience, I didn't expect that I would end up having a very meaningful conversation with Ludwig, or Ludy for short. Ludy is a young white South African man who is a waiter at the Rainbow Experience. My creative piece was about the presence of American culture in South Africa. Tiphanie suggested that I talk to him about the influence of American culture on fashion in South Africa. Although one may believe that fashion is a superficial topic of discussion, it really is not. My conversation with Ludy about fashion turned into a commentary about race.
Throughout my interview with him, Ludy apologized several times for his responses, because he did not want to come off as some "snobbish Afrikaner man." In response to his constant apologies, I told him not to worry. I knew that Ludy was not a racist. Race and its relationship to identity is such a major facet of South African culture.He observed that black South Africans, specifically those who were successful with a good job, a car, etc. often were flashier with their dress. As an example, he talked about a black South African businessman. According to Ludy, this businessman would wear a pin stripe suit, flashy cuff links, and shiny shoes. All of these articles of clothing display wealth in a very bold way. Ludy came to the conclusion that the black South African businessman would choose to dress this way in order to show that he had made it. He was successful. He was no longer oppressed! Basically, it is as if the black businessman has something to prove. He must prove to white South Africa that he too can be successful and on the same level as they are. When we talked about how white South Africans dressed, the observation was the polar opposite. Ludy said that white South Africans had the tendency to be more modest in their way of dress, and not very flashy. Considering the previous comment made about black South Africans, this is very logical. White South Africans do not have anything to prove to anyone. They were the group that was in power, and they did not have to suffer oppression from another racial group. Perhaps the most interesting observation about fashion deals with the Coloreds in South Africa. Historically, the coloreds were wedged between the whites and the blacks. The fact that they were wedged between these two groups led to an identity crisis. Because of this identity crisis, Ludy believes that when it comes to dress, they will mimic what they see on television. For example, colored women may emulate the way that Rihanna dresses or colored men may look to Akon for inspiration.

I never really thought about the relationship between race and fashion in South Africa until I spoke to Ludy. His comments were very insightful and I appreciate the fact that he was very candid with me. I can honestly say that my lunch with Ludy was one of the most meaningful experiences that I had on this trip.

Being black in South Africa by Arnold Kawuba

December 31st 2009, 18 Drew university students and two Professors, Dr. Yanique and Dr. Addo boarded their 16 hour flight destined for Thambo Mbeki international airport in Johannesburg South Africa. Full of mixed feelings and emotions, I boarded that South African air flight not knowing what to expect as the pre-departure course had 'fired' me up to go experience what injustice, prejudice and sheer violence can do to a society. Yes, as Alan Paton beautifully writes is his introductory pages of Cry the Beloved Country, the mountains are gorgeous, the landscape is breath taking, the wine is some of the finest. However, Paton later goes on to juxtapose the beauty of South Africa with the atrocities of racial degradation in South Africa and yes, what I experienced demands the attention of all those that believe in justice, human rights and mere respect of human dignity. Until the Nelson Mandela years, the blacks of South Africa were oppressed, were made to feel as if South Africa was not their home; they were physically beaten and when they tried to fight for their land, their humanity and their dignity, they were either tortured more or were thrown in prison. Walking through the prison where Mandela and many others were imprisoned for being black was a wake up call for me because for some odd reason when I read and studied apartheid in South Africa I was not convinced. But, after visiting Robben Island (Prison where Mandela and many others were imprisoned), listening to some of the stories of those that experienced the brutality, and touching, feeling and smelling the soils that soaked the blood of many blacks I was convinced that I had a personal responsibility. A responsibility to go back to the United States and spread the word--we can not forget what happened in South Africa. Our brother and sister across the Atlantic need us to ensure that another racial genocide does not occur.