Every Day Is Special: civil rights

Showing posts with label civil rights. 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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February 23 - Happy Birthday, W.E.B. DuBois

Posted on February 23, 2021

This is an update of my post published on February 23, 2010:

On this date in 1868 in Massachusetts, William Edward Burghardt DuBois was born. A mixed-race son of a poor single mother, he was very intelligent and used his gifts to become a sociologist, a historian, and a famous civil rights activist.

W.E.B. DuBois was the first black person to earn a PhD from Harvard University. He taught at several schools and universities, but primarily he wrote—scholarly papers, books, newspaper columns, a magazine that he formed, and so on. DuBois also helped form several organizations, most notably the NAACP (the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).

DuBois traveled a great deal. He went to a university in Berlin, Germany, and he traveled all over Europe. He visited Imperial Japan, Nazi Germany, Communist China, and Russia (or the Soviet Union).

In his nineties, DuBois and his wife were invited to visit the African nation of Ghana. When the couple were denied U.S. passports, they became citizens of Ghana. W.E.B. DuBois died in Ghana, at age 95, one day before Martin Luther King's “I Have a Dream” speech.

Words of Wisdom from DuBois:

“The worker must work for the glory of his handiwork, not simply for pay; the thinker must think for truth, not for fame.”

“A classic is a book that doesn't have to be written again.”

“The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.”

“One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. We must not remember that Daniel Webster got drunk but only that he was a splendid constitutional lawyer. We must forget that George Washington was a slave owner . . . and simply remember the things we regard as creditable and inspiring. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example; it paints perfect man and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth.”

“To stimulate wildly weak and untrained minds is to play with mighty fires.”

Learn more!

This YouTube video tells about DuBois's life but also the things that occurred in the world, during that life, with a focus on black rights. Two warnings: while I found the video highly interesting, the volume of the background music (John Coltrane's “A Love Supreme”) seemed a bit high and therefore a bit jarring. Also, since this video focuses on race relations in America, there is necessarily some upsetting content, including mentions and a photo of lynching.

To Africa

It is interesting that DuBois immigrated to Ghana, Africa, so late in life! Learn a little more about Ghana and the continent of Africa: Can you find Ghana on an interactive map?

Now do a map puzzle from the same website. Notice how many landlocked nations there are—and how many very small nations live side-by-side with (or even surrounded by) much larger nations.

There are some photos of the continent of Africa on a very browse-able, click-able website.

How about trying a recipe from Ghana - like bananas cooked with hot pepper, garlic and onions? Try the kelewele recipe found here!