Freedom

Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.
– from Mandela’s inaugural speech

I have long imagined travelling to South Africa, inspired by the life of Nelson Mandela and his Long Walk to Freedom, the courage of Steve Biko (Cry Freedom), and the novels of Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer, “the facts are always less than what really happened.” So, after much imagining, on August 28 I found myself standing atop Cap Point in the wind and rain watching the waves crash over the remains of a shipwreck far below. In 1488, when the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa, he aptly named it the Cape of Storms, later renamed the Cape of Good Hope. Who could have imagined the existence of a sea route to India and the East?

A country rich with natural resources, the discovery of gold and diamonds fueled South Africa’s tumultuous history resulting in wars, bloodshed, and a political system based on racial prejudice and greed that stripped the original inhabitants of all freedoms. Artist/writer friends of mine who grew up in South Africa during the post war years tell me they never imagined a day when Apartheid would be abolished and blacks would live freely alongside whites.

On my last day in Cape Town the seas settled enough for the ferry to cross the shark infested waters to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years in prison for his anti-Apartheid stance. A former prisoner guided us through the chilling compound recounting his experiences and those of other inmates who changed the course of history. Those empty cells now release a haunting silence, yet I walked away with a profound sense of the triumph of their former occupants. In Johannesburg I wandered the notorious Old Fort Prison Complex that contains Number Four where Gandhi was jailed for violating pass laws, as well as the Section 4 native cells and Section 5, the woman’s block where Winnie Mandela spent time. Political prisoners Nelson Mandela, Joe Slovo, Bram Fischer and Robert Sobukwe were imprisoned alongside common criminals. Today, the new Constitutional Court built with bricks from a demolished wing of the prison stands alongside these blocks and houses a collection of over 200 pieces of contemporary South African art celebrating the power of imagination and the courageous struggle for freedom.

The District Six Museum traces the forcible removal of a vibrant community displaced from their homes and resettled in barren outlying areas to make way for a whites only zone. The Apartheid Museum designed by a consortium of architectural firms, chronicles a comprehensive history of the rise and fall of Apartheid through installations, artifacts, imagery and footage that informs and pay homage to the countless victims. You would assume to confront these horrific displays would be a harrowing experience. Instead I not only gained a deeper understanding of this dark period of human history, but I came away with a feeling of hope and an overwhelming sense of awe for the triumph of the human spirit!

Who would have imagined a Xhosa boy born to Thembu people in the tiny village of Mvezo on the banks of the Mbashe River 800 miles east of Cape Town on the last day of WWI would one day implement his vision of freedom for all of South Africa? Who could have imagined that he would become a human rights lawyer in the 1940’s, spend 27 years of his life in prison, and then become the first black President of his country?

Who would have imagined that a courageous young Bantu medical student during the 60’s and 70’s would empower and mobilize urban blacks to stand up for the color of their skin? When 30 year old Steve Biko died of torture wounds while in police custody, who would have imagined that his phrase “black is beautiful” would become the beacon for the black consciousness movement that echoed throughout the world?

Who would have imagined 50 years ago, that a relatively unknown cardiac surgeon from Cape Town would remove the still beating heart from a brain damaged woman and transplant it into the body of a man with incurable heart disease? When Christian Barnard performed the first human to human heart transplant, he became an international sensation overnight opening up the way for surgeons around the world to extend a patient’s life.

Today South Africa is indeed, in Oliver Tambo’s words, “a corner of the globe on which all of humanity can be proud.” Tambo, a key figure in the ANC spent 30 years in exile and died one year before Mandela’s inauguration. In July, the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg renamed in his honor, unveiled a permanent memorial exhibition that celebrates his life and legacy. And who would have imagined that Cape Town has been voted the design capital of the world for 2014? So yes, let freedom reign – freedom to imagine, freedom to take action, freedom to travel, freedom to collaborate, and freedom to celebrate human achievement.

The truth isn’t always beauty, but the hunger for it is.
– Nadine Gordimer