Strikers in South Africa attacked by police...34 die.

There is something going on in South Africa, so significant that it is the equivalent of Apartheid tragedies, I needed to share it with you. Tension in the country is building. I felt the best way to do this was to post an article to shed more light on the subject and then put in my two cents. The original article can be found here: www.nytimes.com. In my responses, sometimes I get angry. I don't apologize for that. But I don't just get angry, I start thinking of ways to put my anger into action.

South African Official Defends Police Killing of 34

Themba Hadebe/Associated Press

A protest on Friday near the mine where 34 miners were killed by the police on Thursday in South Africa’s worst labor-related violence since 1994. More Photos »

By LYDIA POLGREEN

Published: August 17, 2012

MARIKANA, South Africa — South Africa’s police commissioner on Friday defended the actions of officers who opened fire on miners a day earlier during a wildcat strike at a platinum mine. She said the episode left 34 people dead and 78 wounded, a sharply higher toll than initially reported.  

 

Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters

Police officers surround the bodies of miners after opening fire on a crowd at the Lonmin platinum mine in South Africa on Thursday. More Photos »

 

The strike in Marikana has pitted the country’s largest mine workers union against a radical upstart union demanding sharp increases in pay and faster action to improve the grim living and working standards for miners. More Photos »

 

The commissioner, Riah Phiyega, described a desperate struggle by the police to contain the machete-wielding crowd of thousands of angry miners who broke through two lines of defense, leaving officers with no choice but to open fire with live ammunition. 

“The militant group stormed toward the police firing shots and wielding dangerous weapons,” Ms. Phiyega said at an emotional news conference here, using an extensive array of aerial photographs and video to demonstrate how the violence unfolded. Previous attempts by the 500-strong police force to repel the crowd with rubber bullets, water cannons and stun grenades had failed, she said.

“This is no time for finger-pointing,” Ms. Phiyega said. “It is a time for us to mourn the sad and dark moment we experienced as a country.” 

It was South Africa’s worst labor-related violence since 1994. The shootings stunned the nation: front pages of newspapers were plastered with pictures of dead miners lying in a field above headlines like “Bloodbath” and “Killing Fields.” 

President Jacob Zuma cut short his trip to neighboring Mozambique for a regional summit meeting to rush to the site of the bloody protest, 60 miles northwest of Johannesburg. 

“These events are not what we want to see or what we want to become accustomed to in a democracy that is bound by rule of law,” Mr. Zuma said in prepared remarks. He announced the formation of a commission of inquiry to investigate the illegal strike and the response of the police.

The police retrieved six guns from the protesters, including one that had been taken from a police officer who was hacked to death by the workers earlier in the week, Ms. Phiyega said, as well as many machetes, cudgels and spears. 

Miners who escaped the melee gave a very different account of what happened when the police closed in on the rocky outcropping they had occupied. A 36-year-old mine employee named Paulos was among the striking workers on Thursday when the police began encircling the rocky hill with razor wire. 

“They started shooting at us with rubber bullets,” Paulos said. “Then I saw people were falling and dying for real. I knew then they were proper bullets.” 

He struggled to understand why the police had opened fire with live rounds. 

“I never thought this would happen,” he said. “We thought the police were there to protect us.”

Women who said they were wives of missing miners gathered at the site of the protest, waving wooden sticks and singing protest songs. 

“I don’t know where my husband is, whether he is in jail, among the dead or the injured,” said a woman named Mbalenhle who declined to give her last name. “Our husbands were only fighting for their rights, but the police are killing them.” 

The shootout followed a tense week of protests by workers at the platinum mine, owned by Lonmin, a London company. The miners walked off the job last Friday, demanding that their wages be tripled.

The striking workers are members of a radical labor union that splintered off from the National Union of Mineworkers, one of the country’s biggest and oldest unions. 

The splinter group claims that the older union, which is closely allied to the African National Congress, is too cozy with big business and the political elite. 

Frans Baleni, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, rejected that notion and said the rival union, the Association of Mine Workers and Construction Union, was giving people false hope, with tragic consequences. 

“You have opportunists who are abusing ignorant workers,” Mr. Baleni said. “We saw the results yesterday.”

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WOAH. When I opened up that article, the photo literally brought tears to my eyes and put fear in my heart. That tank like thing next to the people is a Casspir. These things were parked somewhere hidden until around the time of the xenophobic attacks of 2008. For goodness sake they were supposed to be a thing of the past, put on display at the Anti-Apartheid museum as a symbol of a time of violence gone by. These are the very same vehicles that made my kids clutch to me and look at me with eyes that could only have been saying "I don't understand... I'm afraid." Now they are busting them out and using them against STRIKERS? 

Look at Marikana, on Google Earth's satellite map. The place is a wasteland. Miles and miles of fields which spend most of the year charred and burned to clear out the remains of the crops. Miles of electrical wires and towers that I can assure you, ship their energy far from the source, if you catch my drift (there were a ridiculous amount of scheduled "power outages" in my township where the electricity was shut off completely, sometimes for hours on end... people were told it was part of a green initiative to save energy, but in reality this really took away from the productivity of their days). There is a highly crowded township North West of there, where I'm sure most of the miners live. That could explain a lot. 

Seriously, what do you expect people to do? Of course they are striking, they are hungry for so much more than food. How can an environment like that, an informal settlement with little access to the things humans need to live a quality life (clinics, hospitals, schools, grocery stores, places to buy clothes, taxi ranks for transportation) sustain life?! This is an anger that has been building up for years. It's like apartheid all over again, Africans against Africans. Why are these Black African police officers not joining in the strike? Their lives are affected by non-living wages too. I understand that many people have to think of just doing their jobs to survive, but if we always have that mentality then we will always let other rule us, take away from us... well, US! And the Unions who failed to serve their people... the ones that allegedly gave the strikers false information that lead them to tragic consequences... if this is true that is the lowest of lows. That warrants the deepest shame. 

Oh yes, let us call the strikers "militants." Let us justify their DEATHS because they were supposedly wielding machetes and waving them around... UM HELLO? THEY WERE PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM GUNS. With LIVE bullets. Which do you think is more lethal? At the same time I grieve for the police officers' lack of solidarity with the miners, I grieve for the miners who may have attacked police officers, as well. I will not deny that tensions were running high on both sides but the point is, this is not Ubuntu. This is not democracy. This is divide and conquer of the different ethnic groups, classes, and this is some BULLSHIT that is going to keep happening if this puppet "Black" government for "Black people" doesn't wake the hell up and employ some Sankofa: look where you've been. Learn from it and move on.

Social justice and the school-- radical or practical?

In 1932, social activist and educator Dr. George S. Counts wrote a series of three pamphlets on the state of education and would significantly change the perceived roles of the teacher within this realm. The most notable of these pamphlets was titled "Dare the School Build a New Social Order?" and was given as a challenging speech to the Progressive Education Association in Baltimore. 

His message is simple: Dr. Counts wanted teachers to lead society instead of following society. He wanted schools to become a place of community development instead of a place of community coercion. In turn, schools would become places that fostered an environment for children and youth to become leaders in their own right-- informed, educated, and confident members of society, ready to take on and participate in a true democracy (maybe even a government based on the principals of Democratic Socialism? *GASP*). 

Counts even goes as far to suggest that teachers should not only be concerned with school matters but also political, economic, and moral matters. The latter is certainly a questionable point, but for the sake of brevity I would like to believe that in today's time it would mean to promote true multiculturalism, respect, and tolerance for those of different races, ethnicities, genders, sexual/gender orientations, classes, etc. 

Counts believed that Americans schools specifically needed to pay close attention to the struggles of progressive forces such as labor unions, farmers' organizations, and minority groups which were extremely active in protest during this time. Teachers and schools could be at the forefront of joining groups that wanted to help change society, set the example for their students, and help set the stage for solving major issues that would lead to a new social order. Thinking about the global uprisings of 2011, I can't think of a more pertinent time to start thinking about these ideals again (see: "Year of Global Uprisings, from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street: A Special Look Back at 2011" http://www.democracynow.org/2012/1/2/year_of_global_uprisings_from_the).

I am very passionate about education policy reform, specifically steering education policy in the direction of social justice. By this, I mean that I believe that we should make schools places of welfare for students, their families, and the surrounding communities. Schools should not just be a place where it is mandatory that children go to for six to eight hours a day by law, but more of a family and community center, a place that encourages growth of mind, body, and spirit. I believe that students, to an extent, should be able to take ownership in the classroom (when I say to an extent, I am referring to a case where the child does not want to learn something simply because they don’t like it or find it too challenging). I believe in teaching a broad curriculum, including subjects like arts that allow for self-expression and vocational studies that allow students to learn a trade or a skill (Armstrong and Savage, 2009, p. 266).

This curriculum should be based on worldviews and philosophy, not just content from the Western canon. However, if goals are not put into a tangible plan with some kind of measurable outcomes, the plan for schools to be both a place of education and social welfare can become ineffective. It is very important, therefore, to properly place the roles in the curriculum, classroom, and teacher.  I am in favor that schools are a place to teach critical thinking skills that would help re-shape society, not just a place to “transfer” what knowledge, cultural heritage, and moral values that happen to be considered the norm. In many cases, even if they are not consciously done, this is how prejudice of every kind is taught to children, including but not limited to: racism, classism, sexism, cultural imperialism, etc. Students must be given the space to view their surrounding world and make sense of it on their own terms, so that they might be the most effective vessels of change possible.

Ideally, to make the school a place for community involvement and welfare, the school would begin as a place for the family. When students do not have the support of the family, that's when it becomes of even more importance that the school becomes a center of welfare. While I was living in South Africa, I had a chance to visit and volunteer at such an institution near the VVOCF center (check out my 2008 archived posts for more info). Just as a quick refresher, in 2008 I worked at an orphan care center called Vumundzuku-Bya Vana Our Children’s Future (VVOCF), in Zonkezizwe, South Africa. The center provides a number of services to children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, such as providing access to clothing, health care, and hot meals. There are also organized activities for the children and youth in the area of English, HIV/AIDS prevention, art, and sports.The main goal of the center is to provide a safe place for the children to let loose and just be kids, as well as have access to essential needs.

I would very much like to follow in the footsteps of George Counts, John Dewey, and Paulo Freire, and explore how schools can become a more integral part of the community as well as how education can both serve as a means to raise critical consciousness among our youth. Future research interests of mine include qualitative studies based on some of my experiences with the aforementioned students. I became very interested in the school system in the country after speaking with my children and youth. Most of the South African students are living in abject poverty, and are made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS somehow in their lives. They are all such beautiful, bright, and energetic children with large hopes and dreams; however, their circumstances in life are making their goals hard to reach.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has had a major influence on every sector in society, but notably a massive impact on South Africa’s education sector. Children and their families are finding themselves turning to schools for help that other social services cannot provide. The school can be a place to learn and grow, to find protection from the problems of every day life. It can be a way to help break the cycle of poverty and disease, and becomes a place that not only nourishes the body, but the soul as well. Those young people who are able to make it through to a higher education have a better chance at helping bringing themselves and their families out of poverty. It is not easy for them because of all their obstacles, but the ones that do the best are ones that have access to schools that act as a part of the community, and provide for the children. I would like to explore how schools can provide for the needs of their most vulnerable children, going past the idea of what a traditional school does, and become a bigger part of the community. My studies would be focusing on some of these potential research questions: How are schools helping these children who are so desperately looking for a better quality of life? What are schools currently doing or not doing in this respect? How does HIV/AIDS get in the way of these dreams, and what are the realities of educational policy today in South Africa? What more can schools do to accommodate learners made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS?

References: 

Armstrong, D. G., Henson, K. T., Savage T.V. (2009). Teaching today: An introduction to education (Eighth ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

  

Dare the School Build a New Social Order on Google Books-- http://books.google.com/books?id=834RmjyjK6MC&dq=isbn:0809308789

Isikhati Yami eVVOCF, eMsanzi Afrika

The following entry is my first ever piece written in Zulu!! This is the first of what I hope will be many more to come during the time I work and live in South Africa. It's about my time spent as an intern at the Vumundzuku-Bya Vana Our Children's Future orphan care center in Zonkizizwe, South Africa last summer. I realize that not many people are actually going to be able to read what it says-- so if you REALLY want to know, e-mail me at iaquint2@msu.edu for a translated edition. Expression comes in many forms, and what you're about to read is from the heart!
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Isikhati Yami eVVOCF, eMsanzi Afrika

Sawubona, igama lami ngi ngu Nicole “Mbali” Iaquinto. Ngineminyaka amashumi amabili nanye. Ngihlala eEast Lansing, kodwa umndeni wami nomama, ubaba, nosisi wami bahlala eFlint, Michigan. Ngithanda ukufunda isiZulu, ukuhleka, ukulalela umculo, nokukuphuza itiye iRooi. Futhi ngithanda izingane nemfundo.

Ngingumfundi eJames Madison College eMichigan State University. Ngifunda i-Social Relations and Policy neAfrican American and African Studies. E-James Madison College ngifanele ukuqedela i-internship. Ngiqede mina eZonkizizwe, uMzansi Afrika ngehlobo 2008. Beku yisikhathi sokuqala sami eMzansi Afrika. Ngi hlale lapho e-ilokishi iziyanga ezintathu.

Ngisebenze eVumundzuku-Bya Vana Our Children’s Future (VVOCF) phakathi nendawo yabantwana neHIV/AIDS. Umholi eVVOCF nguNomusa Buthelezi nabanye abambalwa abayizisebenzi, nofundela ubudokotela eisbhedlela. Othisha basiza ogogo ukukupheka uphutu, isobho, nenyama yakhona.

Abantwana phakhati e VVOCF nendawo baneminyaka enga – amashumi amabili nanye nabahamba esikoleni eZonkizizwe, eKatlehong, naseGermiston. Emuva ibanga, abantwana bafike eVVOCF. Siya sidlale ibhola, sifunde isiNgisi, nescience nobuciko. Ngesinye isikhathi siye sivakashela eGold Reef City eGoli. Futhi, sidla ukudla okumnandi futhi sabe izingubo, sabele abantwana nemindeni yabo.

Ngesinye isikhathi ngifundisa ubuciko nangesinye isikhati ngifundisa ukudlala ibhola, isience, indlu kaTokoloshe, amabhange, imidwebo, nemigexo. Abantwana bathanda ubuciko kuhulu. Bathanda ukubhala izincwadi babhalele izingane eMelika. Ekuqaleni abafana babengafuni ukuvumela amatombazana ukuba adlale ibhola. Ngabeluleka ukuthi sifanele sidlale sonke.

E-VVOCF Ngiphathe izingane nomsebenzi wasekhaya elabhulali ntambama. Izingane zomgwamanda futhi zifike. Sisebenze izibalo, ubuciko, umlando, umbhalo, isiZulu, isiNgisi, nokunye. Sisebenzizse amakhompuyutha nezincwadi ukuqeda. Izingane azivunyelwe ukuthola usizo uphandle isikole.

Ngesonto kune ngisebenze ezikoleni e-umgwamanda. Ngisebenze eZonkizizwe Primary, Umtholo Primary, Zonkizizwe Secondary, neWinile Secondary. Ngisize othisha ngo-buciko namasiko. Futhi, ngisebenze isifundo nga “hip hop eMelika.” Kwaku jabulisa kahulu! Sifunde izindaba na siphendula imibuzo. Ngiakhe ubungane nothisha ezikoleni.

Futhi ngisize ukuhlela “Usuku Lwesempilo.” Sithathe izingane sazisa esikoleni nasekliniki. Sihlola izingane ngenxa yeHIV/AIDS. Sahlola izingane ezingamashumi asisishiyagalobili! Izingane ezine zigamele. Sajabula ukukwazi, manje sesiyakwazi ukubasiza.

Ekupheleni kohambo lwami, ngahlaba ikhefu. Emva kwalokho ngaya eLesotho; eMalealea Lodge. Ngalala endlini ezintabeni. Ekuseni ngahamba ngehhashi ukubona Botsekoua Falls. Futhi ngabona isangoma. Isangoma sakhuluma sathi ngifanele ukuphonsa iphathi ngedlozi lami. Ngahlala eLesotho imihla imibili, futhi ngahamba ngaya ekhaya ngetekisi.

Ngahamba ngaya ekhaya eMelika u-Agasti. Ngadanile ubusuku uMsanzi Afrika nezingane eVVOCF. Ngathembisa ukubuya masinyane. Isikhathi yami eVVOCF Kwaku jabulisa nadanisa nobabili. I-internship yami ingisiza ukuenyula isikhathi esizayo umsebenzi wami. Manje, ngifuna ukusebenza ngezingane yeHIV/AIDS noma imfundo i-elementary noma i-secondary.

Ngikhumbula izingane yami kahulu, noNomusa, noZonkezizwe. Ngizobuya eZonkizizwe intwasahlobo 2010. Ngizogumfundi eUniversity of KwaZulu Natal. Ngifunda umlando ngoMzansi Afrika nesiZulu. Ngizovakasha Zonkizizwe ezimpela sonto namaholide.

Article Critique: “New Trends in Democracy and Development: Democratic Capitalism in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya” - Rita Kiki Edozie

In her article titled “New Trends in Democracy and Development: Democratic Capitalism in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya” Professor Rita Kiki Edozie of the International Relations department at Michigan State University examines the “complex relationship between capitalism and democracy in contemporary democratic regimes in Africa from the perspective of current trends in economic globalization” (43). The article follows the prospects of democracy in the three mentioned African countries and the scandals surrounding their dominant political parties: The African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria, and the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) in Kenya (Edozie 43).

Edozie uses the theoretical frameworks of political economy and comparative studies to show how the global regimes of capital are having effects on contemporary national democratic politics and how a democratic crisis in each country is associated with an economic crisis. Among these are South Africa’s French Connection Scandal, Nigeria’s Globacom Affair, and Kenya’s Anglo-Leasing Finance Scandal (Edozie 43). According to Edozie, when considering the relationship between capitalism and democracy, one must consider two things: the region’s context of economic development and economic conditions that foster the emergence of democracy, as well as the performance of democratic regimes that speak to the conditions required for democratic stabilization, consolidation, and effective performance (45).

Edozie explains that in the developing world context, the analyses of problems that influence democracy are defined in socio-political, economic, and cultural, terms Edozie labeled as external or extrinsic (47). In the case of Africa, such factors cause significant effects on unevenly developed economic structures in developing democracies. Democratic transitions in which economic and democratic reform occur simultaneously allow for the formation of “democratic capitalism” (Edozie 48). From here Edozie moves into specific examples in the African context: South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya’s network of democratic capitalism. All three countries serve as important examples of the “phenomena” of democratic capitalism and show how intrinsic features such as liberal democracies and pluralism, along with extrinsic features such as global laissez-faire capitalism are contributing to a crisis of democracy (49). These three countries were selected because they are among the wealthiest of African economies on the continent. However, compared to other advanced industrial democracies throughout the world these African countries are relatively poor (Edozie 49).

Beginning with South Africa, the crisis of democracy is attributed to the second election and the assumption of Thabo Mbeki as the executive power. After his rise to power, the ANC become more centralized and dominating and “talking left while acting right” (Edozie 50). Others such as Jacob Zuma further tarnished the name of the ANC by illegally benefitting from a multibillion dollar arms contract, or the “French connection” as Edozie terms it. The tension originally began as a power dispute between Jacob Zuma, the Deputry President of the ANC and Bulelani Ngcuka, head of South Africa’s Directorate of Special Investigations. Ngcuka illegally benefitted from an arms trade deal with his financial partner Schabir Shaik, the director of the Nkobi Holdings and the African Defence Systems (Edozie 56). Tension built within the party as those with different ideologies (pro-reform vs. traditional revolutionary beliefs) clashed. Such internal conflict made it impossible for the ANC government to focus effectively on the issues of South Africa such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic and unemployment among others. and put democracy at risk.

Next Edozie moves onto Nigeria and its incumbent ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In Nigeria much of the political tension was caused between the battles between the country’s legislature and the executive. Impeachment charges were brought against then President Obasanjo and then counter charges against key legislators. Later on when Abubaka won the presidency, tension arose between the Southern Christians and the Northern Muslims. More pro-economic reform policy was pushed by the executive, putting more emphasis on personal power politics and the ideology of Nigerian ethno-regionalism (Edozie 50).
Under the NARC regime Edozie elaborates on the Globacom Affair. This affair had international connections, and very heavy relations with the US Department of Justice, the FBI, and Congressman William Jefferson. The Nigerian Presidency claimed to have been acting on behalf of the FBI to investigate the Vice President involvement in the laundering of money from privatization program funds and using them to purchase shares in Globacom and other US ‘front’ companies (Edozie 54). Such accusations of scandal, money laundering, and corruption are never conducive to democracy, and to accuse a President of those wrongdoings truly damages democracy in Nigeria.

Finally Edozie elaborates on the crisis in Kenya and the historic transition election in 2002 that brought President Mwai Kibaki and the National Rainbow Coalition Party (NARC) to power. With Kibaki’s ascension to power came Kenya’s adaptation of nurture capitalism in democratic politics. In 2003 a sensational corruptions scandal was discovered in Nigeria, now known as the Anglo-Leasing Finance Scandal. Its major players included NARC, President Kibaki, and a host of his other key ministers. The government of Kenya wanted to replace its passport printing system and sources its bids from international companies. A French firm quoted the transaction at 6million Euros, and a British firm, Anglo-Leasing Finance, quoted 30 million dollars. The scandal happened when the contract was awarded to Anglo-Leasing, which then sub-leased the contract to the French firm for 6 million dollars. NARC ministers were implicated but no charges were brought against them (Edozie 58-9). When the people can’t trust their own elected officials due to monetary scandal, democracy is in danger indeed.

Edozie’s collection of data for the three countries suggests that the democratic crises experienced by each country are linked to national and global economic structures including elites, electorates, and capitalist interests (60). These developing countries more aggressively “seek business investment for the purpose of economic growth and poverty reduction” (Edozie 61). But because of this, they tend to turn into nurture capitalist economies because they must rely on large domestic and international corporations who exploit the people of these countries. The governing bodies of these countries tend to support no-reform policies rather than economic reform because they realize how harmful such polices are to the welfare and interests of the people. Even still, since economic policy almost always presides with the executive and elite who are loyal to the central banks and creditors, they tend to form political majorities in parliament mobilized to support the technocratic, pro-reform economic policy (Edozie 62). Therefore, the interests of the people are never really given a chance.

Edozie’s evidence showing that people of these countries are demanding more than just democratic representation (such as suffrage, entitlements, or political rights) is her overall strength. She does not say that the political parties in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria have taken part in corrupt practices, but gives specific evidence of their wrongdoings as well as shows how the people reacted to them. She uses the labor strikes, demonstrations, riots, and militant conflicts of the people to show that constituencies in all three countries are demanding democracies that provide the redistribution of the already scarce resources (Edozie 62). Democratic capitalism is being rejected by the people. The future of the countries depend on whether or not each country can get beyond their crises through peaceful political means. In the case of South Africa it may mean allowing other parties than the ANC to have a share in the political process of the country. Similar are the cases in Nigeria and Kenya where there is a need to create a multi-ethnic, multiparty systems that foster national development and equal access to material wealth for everyone, rather than just the elite few.

Works Cited:

Edozie, Rita Kiki. “New Trends in Democracy and Development: Democratic Capitalism in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.” Politikon. 35:1, 43-67.

The many adventures of Nicole

If you have a moment, check out some of my newly updated videos from South Africa on my YouTube channel!

http://www.youtube.com/user/lifeissankofa

More uploads are coming soon!

-Nicole

The Language of Oppression: the degradation of Black languge in the USA and South Africa

I know about structural racism …. Racial oppression through entrenched systems in society through various public bodies, laws, corporations, the prison system, universities...you name it. But when the idea of racial oppression through use of language was introduced to me, I was suddenly taken aback. I had never though about it before-- was there such a thing as a linguistic hierarchy? After making some connections in my mind, I came to conclude that this is so. For the sake of making this blog entry brief, I will say that English is at the top of this hierarchy. I come to this conclusion because it seems like everywhere you go, you can find some sort of evidence that English is spoken there.

In a world where global politics are becoming more important than ever, how will people continue to communicate with one another? Will people continue to place an emphasis on learning to speak English as a common language, or will they attempt to broaden their horizons and learn to speak the language of others?

Some more things to ponder:

Have you ever stopped to think about the words you are using, or the way you are speaking in order to express yourself? How does your language or diction differ from that of other surrounding you? Do you think you speak "better" English than others?

Picture this scenario. It’s a stereotypical one at best, but it speaks to my point. An African-American child grows up in the ghetto where she learns to speak a form of colloquial English known to some as "Ebonics," or in more technical terms, Black Vernacular English. She grows up in a community where this is the dominant form of languages spoken. She doesn't think anything is wrong with the way she talks, it's just how she grew up. However, the outside world of "proper English speakers" would tend to disagree. The way she speaks is unacceptable and crude. She is accused of sounding ignorant and stupid because of the way she speaks and misses out on many opportunities in life such as being considered for job, housing, etc. How is this fair? Why isn't it OK for her to express herself in a way that feels comfortable for her? Why must she conform to certain standards of language in order to be taken seriously?

Geneva Smitherman, a university distinguished professor at Michigan State University, explores such oppressive parallels between the Black speech communities in both the United States of America (USA) and the Republic of South Africa (RSA). Though the culture, history, demography, legal structure, and other important elements of both countries have significant differences, there is a basis for comparing the Black politics in both countries as it relates to language (316).

Both the RSA and USA are attempting to adopt policies centered around the creation of the English language as an official and premier language of the country. In the RSA this would be a policy of “English Plus,” and in the USA “English Only” (316). This presents fundamental problems for all linguistic minorities, including those who speak African or Pidgin Languages in the RSA or Black Vernacular English (Ebonics) in the USA (317).

According to Smitherman, such impositions can be though of as modern day “internal colonialism” in both countries, similar to the extermination of Native Americans from the USA, the introduction of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade to the global market, and the conquest of South Africa by the Netherlands and later Great Britain (317-18). Such internal colonialism is not just a polarization between and oppressor nation and a colonized people but an entrenched system of “racial capitalism” where Europeans are socially constructed as the “superior” race with superior qualities and characteristics (318). In order to do this, the Europeans created elaborate systems of law, education, politics, customs, and cultural belief sets to support the economic exploitation of the indigenous peoples (318). One can see how the European claim of superior language could greatly affect each one of these systems.

Linguistic colonialism in both the RSA and USA negatively affects the Black populations. The colonizers’ languages, English and Afrikaans in the RSA and English in the USA are considered to be much more prestigious than African languages or Ebonics. Such imposition of language makes it impossible for Africans and African Americans to experience life and learning, as they are forced to use a language that makes it impossible to properly reflect the real life of Black communities (320). Though Blacks share this major similarity, they do experiences some differences as well in their experience.

Africans brought to the USA as slaves were almost completely stripped of their native languages while Africans were allowed to keep their languages in the RSA. However, the British policy in the RSA regulated other African languages in the RSA as having a lower status by considering them “dialects” instead of “languages” (321). Africans who learned to speak English were given rewards by the British in form of allowing them to become part of a class of Black elite with special economic and social privileges.

On the other hand, African Americans developed a form of pidgin English in order to communicate with their masters as well as other Blacks who were brought to the USA as slaves. Their masters often mixed slaves who spoke different languages and came from different parts of West Africa together, and they developed their own forms of communication as a survival mechanism (322-3).

Presently in both the USA and RSA the legacy of internal colonialism continues to connect to Black language politics and pose barriers to moving toward a linguistic democracy. Blacks who speak primarily Ebonics or an African English are scrutinized for not speaking “good” English and award social and economic benefits such as jobs and mobility to those who can speak English properly (340). Language is being used to divide the Black community into groups competing with one another for material and social wealth, making it that much more impossible for Black people across the globe to stand in solidarity against the capitalist systems that continue to oppress them. At the end of the article Smitherman pushes for the Black community to unite and pressure the dominate white elite toward linguistic democratization (341).

One thing is for certain—these languages with their variations, history, and cultural influence aren’t going away any time soon. Both sides need to develop a way to make room for the diversity of people within them and the way in which they express themselves. If some happy medium can't be reached, future generations of Black people will be both physically and psychologically damaged by the internal colonialism of language heiarchy and its practices.

Another thing that certain-- respect should be given to all people, regardless of what words they choose to use. All language is sacred; it brings dreams and ideas to life, sharing the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of humans to the rest of the world.

Works Cited:

Smitherman, Geneva. “Language and Democracy in the USA and the RSA.” Ed. Roseanne Dueñas González and Ildikó Melis. Language Ideologies: Critical Perspectives on the Official English Movement. Lawrence Elbaum Associates, 2001. 316-344.

Sunday May 11, 2008 and recollections of the month of May

After tearful goodbyes with mom and dad and a 20 our plane ride, I find myself here in Johannesburg, South Africa. I am here for the next three months with two other MSU students, Rachel Frank and Alex Hill. We will be interning at Vumundzuku Bya-Vana Our Children’s Future (VVOCF), working with children and youth made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. I really have no idea what to expect, but I’m excited to get started!

We went from Detroit Metro to Amsterdam, then to O.R. Tambo. We arrived late last night, so we had to rent a car and stay in a hotel for a night. We packed 6 huge suitcases and the three of us into a small Ford focus, which I thought was quite impressive. Rachel drove the car from the airport to the hotel. I’m really glad she did because I wouldn’t know what to do with the car—in South Africa the steering wheel is on the right hand side of the car, and you drive on the left. She did really well, except for the part where we drove almost a mile down the road with our parking break on… but anyways! We checked into our hotel and passed out, or at least I did after having pretty much zero sleep on the airplane.

We woke up early the next morning, and made our way to Zonke! The directions we had pretty much took us right there, but we got a little lost once we got into the Township. When we got there we met Gogo, which means grandmother, Phindile, the neighbor who works with the pre-school aged kids at the center, and two little ones, Thandeka and Nkosana. Nomusa (who’s real name is actually Celumusa, but we Americans are hopeless and pronouncing it correctly), the director of the center, hadn’t expected us so early, so she was down the street getting her hair done. We moved our things into our new home, which was one room with a few tables, a fridge and a futon. Rachel and I would be sleeping in this room, and Alex would be sleeping in the office. Even still, it was a nice sized room to use for a common room. While we waited for Nomusa, we played with the curious kids, having our first taste of trying to communicate with young children speaking Zulu. Soon Nomusa came to greet us, and we all got acquainted. The children would be coming home from school soon, and I couldn’t wait to finally meet them.

Around 1:30pm children started to trickle onto the property. As I was helping Nomusa and Phindile make sandwiches for our lunch, several of the children came to our room and introduced themselves. I was trying my best to remember their names, but it wasn’t easy. My ears had never heard names like Nkosikhnoa, Sphe, Zinhle, Sandile, Thabang, or Samu before (it took me almost a month to learn all the names of the 50+ children we worked with three times a week). When the majority of children arrived, we went into the center for the welcoming ceremony. We introduced ourselves with Nomusa translating for the younger ones, and then the children greeted us individually. All around the room were signs of welcome; the children had spent quite a long time making banners, window curtains, and chalkboard drawings welcoming us by name. As everyone was yelling and running around we handed out VVOCF T-shirts and tried to meet the many demands of “Shoot me, shoot me!” from the children, who are fascinated by digital cameras. The rest of the day was spent trying to talk with the children over the noise and being human jungle gyms for the smaller ones. It was no wonder that one of the first words in Zulu I learned was the word for “spin me!”

During the rest of the month we got acquainted with Zonke, the system of the center, and tried to get to know the kids. Bongani, Nomusa’s brother, took us on a few tours of Zonke with the car, and soon we were venturing out by ourselves. We tried some of the local food such as fat cakes, chicken dust, and my all time favorite, Kota. Kota is a sandwich on thick, soft bread with fries, cheese, several kinds of unidentifiable meat, and sometimes eggs and a spicy carrot sauce called chakalaka on it. We had it at least one a week after that, and became regulars at a Kota place down the street. We made our faces known at the library about once a week to use the sometimes-working internet. We also made trips to Germiston and Natal-Spruite, two cities close to Zonke, and learned how to use the taxis. People in the family we are staying with an many of the kids are teaching us Zulu. I think I’m doing pretty well with basic greetings, but I really need to work on my clicks. Out of all of us, Alex is the only one who can do it right, but Rachel and I are trying. We developed activities for the kids to do on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays along the lines of art, sport, and English instruction. I started off working with the pre-school aged kids with Phindile, and eventually moved to the middle aged kids we deemed “the middles,” who range from ages 8 - 13. I did a lot of arts and crafts with the kids using recycled materials the interns collected. In Zonke there is a big problem with people just throwing their trash on the ground because there aren’t any public trashcans. When the garbage gets to be too much, people just burn it. Because of that, I really tried to think of things to do with as many recycled materials as possible to teach the kids to reuse when practical.

There are several things people do in South Africa that are already extremely practical. They used prepaid cell phones for the most part, paying only for what they use. When they go to the grocery stores they also use these big, strong plastic bags, that they bring with them instead of using the disposable plastic bags. If you use the bags at the store, they actually charge you for them. Townships, where most of the poorest South Africans live, have small stores called Tuck Shops or Spazas within walking distance where people can get most of their basic food needs. People will also sell baked goods and other foodstuffs, so there is no reason to have to pay to travel outside to get groceries. Also, many people in South Africa exclusively use taxis to get around instead of everyone owning their own cars. Though the taxis can sometimes be dangerous, for the most part they take you where you want to go for a reasonable price. It’s amazing to me to see how some people adapt when they don’t have access to many resources.

Zonke is definitely one of those communities with an extreme lack of resources. The unemployment rate here is something around 80%, and most people are surviving off of government grants. The schools and clinics have very basic set ups and little funding. Many people are living in tin shacks, built extremely close together. Some of the lucky ones live RDP homes with bricks provided by the government’s Reconstruction Development Program. The bricks are free, but the process to get them is long and arduous. In order to get the bricks, one must go to the library and apply for them, wait several months for their delivery, then wait almost a year before someone will come out and actually build the house. Despite the hardships in Zonke, however, the spirit of resilience is alive and kicking. VVOCF is proof of that!

Back in the US!

Dear Reader,

I am back in the United States from my three month internship in Zonkizizwe, South Africa, but I cannot say I fully feel like I am home. I left a big piece of my heart at Vumundzuku-Bya Vana Our Children's Future (VVOCF), and with the children and youth that the center serves. In the last three months I have been through the some of the hardest, but most rewarding experiences of my life. I have been working with children and youth made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, helping a grassroots community NGO grow and develop in the face of overwhelming odds-- poverty, unemployment, lack of access to basic health care, poor public educations systems, and lack of adequate housing, to name a few.

During this time I have been living and working with the people in community, learning as much as I could about their language, their culture, and their way of life. During this time, these people became my extended family. I fell in love with South Africa and the spirit of humanity and resilience I found there. I learned a great deal about myself on this trip and about the fascinating history of the country’s highly segregated past. In this journal I have tried to include some of the highlights of my stay in South Africa, but I do not believe any amount of words could do it justice.

What I have learned to appreciate above all; however, is the power of the human spirit. Individuals working together to create change can be a powerful force. It builds community ties, a feeling of family, and a sense a pride and ownership in one’s community. I have seen downtrodden people become empowered, and their transformation is contagious. I cannot help but think to myself, what kind of world would it be if everyone could see what I have seen?

Keep checking for updates. The entries are backdated, so pay attention to the title of the post to see actual dates of events.

Also, if you want to check out some pictures from my trip, go here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v325/quinneycole/Zonkizizwe/.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me any time.

Sincerely,

Nicole