Following the Eastern Cape, I traveled another two hours by flight to Stellenbosh, which is 45 minutes away from Cape Town. Whew! I have done A LOT of traveling!
This week we mostly traveled by foot on the dirt roads. We did not leave our village much. When we did leave for excursions, we traveled via two minibuses, one of the main modes of transportation in South Africa amongst citizens of color.
The most interesting place I visited this week was the Steve "Bantu" Biko Center. This was a museum memorializing Bantu Biko, the great apartheid activist and father of the Black Consciousness Movement. I also had the chance to visit his grave site and speak with one of his close friends who is still alive today! Bantu Biko was tortured until the point of death in a South African prison because his intellect was a "threat" to the White Nationalist Party. During the apartheid era, the Party oppressed people of color and upheld white privilege.
I am learning quite a lot about myself. Although most of the history I am learning is about South Africa and apartheid, there are so many parallels to U.S. history and oppression. I have found myself comparing apartheid to segregation in the United States. While not the same, they do have some similarities. You might be surprised to find that South Africans face some of the same issues in regards to equity that we do. My experience here has made me more determined than ever to empower the youth in my community at home.
