Personal sacrifice and commitment to a higher cause

We are probably home by the time you are reading this. I am writing this post on the flight, but I will have to wait for the opportunity to prepare and upload photos.

We spent the morning of our departure visiting Robben Island [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robben_Island]. This is the location where Nelson Mandela and other dissidents protesting apartheid were imprisoned. Mandela spent 18 years on this island.

The version of South Africa with all ethnic and racial groups of equal political status has only existed since 1994. My personal awareness of the conditions in South Africa goes back further than that through a South African born citizen whom I met when he worked at the University of North Dakota. Stan and I shared common academic interests and have remained friends since. He moves about more than we have, but we reconnected after both of us ended up living in Minneapolis. He spends half of his time there and half back in South Africa. I had the opportunity to stay in his apartment when I spent some time at the University of Minnesota many years ago. Stan was in South Africa. Stan collected African art and had a nice collection of South African music much of which was protest music. At that time South Africa was functioning under sanctions as other countries tried to pressure the apartheid promoting government. Tracking his life and times gave me some insight into the peculiar functioning of this country. Now, I have had an opportunity to visit. BTW - Stan and a friend write crime novels set in southern Africa under the pseudonym Michael Stanley. There is plenty of accurate commentary on life in this region as a background for their stories. [http://detectivekubu.com/]

Mandela’s Gold Bird of Paradise

Mandela speech from Cape Town City Hall - https://www.si.edu/object/yt_9DjAXRhz6DA - I have photos of the memorial simulation added to the building.

Trying to understand the significance and recency of the present government in South Africa is a bit of a challenge. It may be something like trying to understand the risks and sacrifices made by George Washington and his peers. The outcome for the U.S. is what we take for granted so being reminded is not a bad thing. It reminds me a bit of the comments of a women we met in Johannesburg what now seems like many days ago. When she was in school, her older brother was shot and killed during a demonstration by high school students. She commented that “we are an experiment in democracy.” She added - “but so are you.”