Week 5

            While I have not been to South Africa yet, I do feel like I have an understanding of the context around race and the anti-apartheid movement because of what I have learned about America's journey to equality. After watching Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and Selma, it is interesting to notice the similarities between the two. Both movements were rooted in different historical contexts, occurred on different continents and came into action in different time periods. So I find it very interesting and somewhat amazing, that despite these differences in the two movements, they are still very similar to one another.
             Both movements were lead about amazing, incredibly inspiring men - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. I believe their leadership and perseverance are key to the strength of both of the movements - in America and South Africa. Both leaders were jailed, along with colleagues multiple times, as a frequent response to their actions. MLK and Mandela both took on a high degree of responsibility and risked their families' safety and their own safety for their movements. Both Dr. King's and Mandela's home were continually assaulted or invaded. Dr. King's home was a frequent location for backlash, whether bricks were crashing in through windows or worse. Mandela even went in hiding for a portion of time to escape the threats of backlash or being arrested, while Winnie Mandela was continually disturbed, arrested, or invaded on by the government.
             Both the Civil Rights movement and the Anti-Apartheid movement utilized informal meetings to inform and organize one another. These meetings occurred in their own (non-white) spaces to assure their safety and effectiveness. The two movements were also composed of a variety of different groups, they shared the same large goal, but had different ideas about how to reach their main goal of equality. Students were involved in organizing protests within both movements, especially the sit-ins and the Soweto uprising. Both movements experienced large scale arrests in response to their protests, and unfortunately violent backlash was a common response to the actions within the movements. For example, in Soweto, Johannesburg in 1976 in response to the introduction of Afrikaans into the education system, protests were organized. Chaos broke out, and dogs were released onto protestors as well as open fire by the police. Over a thousand people were wounded and an estimated 176 people died on that day. This level of violence occurred on a somewhat smaller scale in Selma, Alabama. Shown in Selma, the march reached a bridge where they encountered a line of officers who proceeded to attack the protestors. Images spread through the media from both of these protests and played a very important role in increasing and changing public opinion in favor of the movements.
            In response to the violence both of the movements experienced to their non-violent protests, facts started occurring in both movements. Winnie Mandela and Malcolm X are two figures that advocated for violence as a form of self-defense, in response to the backlash their movements received. Although all involved in both movements were working towards the same ultimate goal, different groups thought a certain way would be a better approach than the others.
           Both films were captivating and the injustices shown made my insides twist into knots. The degree of disrespect one person can hold for another human is something I will never understand. The leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, as well as their commanding presences will never cease to inspire me.