Day 6/…


Today was an emotional day. We went to the Nelson Mandela Museum and the Hector Peterson Museum. If you are not familiar with Mandela he was a key figure in the Aparthied Movement in South Africa. Apartheid—meaning separateness in Afrikaans was a system of legal racial segregation enforced by the National Party government in South Africa between 1948 and 1994.Racial segregation in South Africa began in colonial times, but apartheid as an official policy was introduced following the general election of 1948. New legislation classified inhabitants into racial groups (black, white, coloured, and Indian), and residential areas were segregated by means of forced removals. From 1958, Blacks were deprived of their citizenship, legally becoming citizens of one of ten tribally based self-governing homelands or bantustans, four of which became nominally independent states. The government segregated education, medical care, and other public services, and provided black people with services inferior to those of whites. Hector Peterson became the iconic image of the 1976 Soweto uprising in apartheid South Africa when a news photograph by Sam Nzima of the dying Hector being carried by a fellow student, was published around the world. He was killed at the age of 12 when the police opened fire on protesting students. For years, June 16 stood as a symbol of resistance to the brutality of the apartheid government. Today, it is known as National Youth Day — a day on which South Africans honor young people and bring attention to their needs.
It was very difficult to attend both of these museums and actively engage in all that they had to offer because I felt attached to the people who were living this struggle on a day to day basis. My experiences today also reminded me that I have little to nothing to complain about back home in the states because I am fortunate beyond measure and I have been blessed with many opportunities. Signing Off….