Every Day Is Special: Freedom Day

Showing posts with label Freedom Day. Show all posts

April 27 - Freedom Day in South Africa - AND Birthday of Coretta Scott King!

Posted on April 27, 2021

This is an update of my post published on April 27, 2010:

On this day in 1994, South Africa held its first post-apartheid elections.

Apartheid was a formal system of segregation and discrimination along racial lines. Racial segregation and racial discrimination were common in all of colonized Africa, including South Africa, but on this date in 1950, a law was passed setting up the formal system. The Group Areas Act made segregation the law of the land, with forcible removal and relocation of “blacks,” “coloured,” and “Indians” in order to achieve that segregation.

Under the apartheid regime, non-whites had only limited rights to vote, so they couldn't overthrow apartheid through free and fair elections. Instead, non-white folks in the country had to use resistance, boycotts, and protests - including some violent protests. Nelson Mandela was one of the stars of the anti-apartheid movement - even after he was imprisoned for political reasons!

Nelson Mandela

One reason that all those protests finally won was that many people in other countries joined in with protests and governments of other countries, such as the United States, finally-finally-finally passed sanctions against South Africa.

And so, in the very late 1980s and the early 1990s, apartheid was ended and political prisoners were released.

Nelson Mandela, who had become the leading voice for non-violent resistance and protest, was released after being in prison for 27 years!!!!

Like I said, today is the anniversary of the 1994 election. For the first time, in South Africa, everyone of voting age (over 18) from any racial group was allowed to vote. And Nelson Mandela was elected president.

Scenes from the 1994 election:
Above, Mandela voting.
Below, the lines to vote were
looooooooooooooong!

To commemorate the day and celebrate freedom, the day is a public holiday.

ALSO ON THIS DAY:

April 27, 1927, Coretta Scott was born. She grew up to marry Martin Luther King, Jr.

Before and particularly after MLK's assassination, Coretta Scott King was active in the U.S. civil rights movement. She dedicated time and energy, not only to ending racial segregation and discrimination, but also to rights for women, world peace, equality for people of all sexual orientations, and opposition to apartheid.

Before and particularly after her husband's assassination, Coretta Scott King was active in the civil rights movement in the United States. She dedicated time and energy, not only to ending racial segregation and discrimination, but also to rights for women, world peace, and equality for people of all sexual orientations.

Coretta Scott King also participated in protests against the South African apartheid regime and urged U.S. president Ronald Reagan to approve economic sanctions against the government in an effort to end the regime. She traveled to South Africa to meet with Winnie Mandela, wife of then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela.

I wonder if she felt like that first free-and-fair election, and Mandela being elected president, were an extra-special birthday present?

Learn more about Nelson Mandela, Coretta Scott King, and South Africa.

Watch the movie Invictus. This excellent movie stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon and concerns Nelson Mandela's efforts to unite South Africa after years of violence and segregation. It's both heartwarming and inspiring. We don't see the violence and injustice that preceded the events in the film; instead, we are offered visions of forgiveness, growing understanding, and sport. (The film is rated PG-13 for brief strong language.)

Read The Day Gogo Went to Vote, by E. B. Sisulu. (Gogo means “grandmother” in Xhosa and Zulu.)

Explore the photos and facts about South Africa available on Kids' National Geographic.

Listen to an interview (well, a chunk of an interview) with Coretta Scott King.

Quotes from Coretta Scott King and Nelson Mandela:

“Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated. “ – Coretta Scott King

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

“I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice. But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King, Jr., said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'" – Coretta Scott King

“It always seems impossible until it's done.” – Nelson Mandela

Also on this date:

Babe Ruth Day

World Tapir Day

Anniversary of the discovery of hahnium

Anniversary of Beethoven's composition of Fur Elise

Poem in Your Pocket Day

Independence Day in Sierra Leone and Togo

Birthday of U.S. President Ulysses Grant

National Resistance Day in Slovenia

Flag Day in Moldova

Matanzas Mule Day

Plan ahead:

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June 19 - Juneteenth

Posted on June 19, 2020

June 19th being called Juneteenth is very clever (I wrote about the name in a 2010 post) - and I believe the name dates back to 1866 - but this holiday is also called by some Emancipation Day or Freedom Day. Since it's an American holiday, it sounds like it commemorates June 19th of some year when all those who had been enslaved were finally-finally-finally freed, or emancipated.

And it DOES celebrate the freedom of all enslaved African Americans in the U.S. But that's not what happened (at least not everywhere) on June 19, 1865.

Remember, President Abraham Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation in July of 1862, and it became official on January 1, 1863. So enslaved African Americans in the Confederate States of America were - as far as the United States was concerned - freed about two and a half years before June 19, 1865.

Of course the Confederate states no longer recognized the U.S. as their country, or Abraham Lincoln as their president, let alone any laws or proclamations concerning slavery coming from Lincoln and "the Union."

As you know, most white people in the South felt strongly enough about their "right" to OWN HUMAN BEINGS that they had broken up with the United States and were waging war against it!

That war, usually called the U.S. Civil War, was over when General Robert E. Lee surrendered in April of 1865 - several months before June 19, 1865.

Slavery itself wasn't really and truly ended in the United States until the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in December of 1865 - a few months AFTER June 19, 1865.

What actually DID happen on this date in 1865 is that Major General Gordon Granger and a group of Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with the news that the war was over and enslaved people were free. Texas was the most remote of the Southern states, and there had been very few Union troops to enforce federal laws, until Granger arrived, so slavery had continued there longer than most places.

This year Juneteenth celebrations will be...different? I'm guessing! Rather than local celebrations with speeches and backyard barbecues, beauty pageants and parades, there is more nationwide interest in the holiday because of the horrific George Floyd murder and the Black Lives Matter movement. But there is also the looming specter of the COVID-19 virus that has made large gatherings dangerous.

This year people have been forced to be more cautious and creative but also more passionate. I read that some cities are planning drive-through celebrations, the city of Detroit is holding a week-long celebration with livestream discussions, several big companies are giving workers the day off, and new awareness of the holiday for many has resulted in decisions to postpone non-Juneteenth-ish premieres and events so as not to distract from the holiday.