Browse Items (10 total)

On one of the first days of class last semester, we watched a clip of a documentary about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. The commission was created shortly after Nelsen Mandela was elected to presidency at the end of the…

As I have discussed in previous posts, one of my personal projects in Cape Town was to learn as much as I could about the life and work of activist Ray Alexander. Specifically, I wished to find out more about her interest in women’s rights and to…

One of the things that seemed most striking in South Africa was the difference between lived reality and law. For instance, while same-sex marriage is legal in that nation (a fact proudly promoted in official literature), the prevalence of…

Ray Alexander was a Latvian-born activist who fought for racial justice and the rights of women and union workers in South Africa. She was also a member of the Communist Party and paid special attention to the conditions of workers. Alexander was…

At the end of our time in South Africa, we were told by our professor to think of our study abroad group in relation to the sort of reconciliation being attempted in that nation. We were to take what was good with us and leave what was bad, and we…

     The metaphor of undressing or taking off one’s clothes is widespread throughout the literary world. Peeling off layers of heavy clothing and baring one’s body is often seen as empowering and enlightening. As each layer is removed, one’s true…

Questioning Eyes It’s sad The situation is so bad That when we meet In this dark street, We size Each other up With cautious, questioning eyes -Peter E. Clarke       I have been told that South Africa is full of poetry and full of pain. For those…

“Apartheid with its policy of ‘separate development’ and white domination, has long perpetuated the myth that people in South Africa are different, with different lives, different futures, different destinies. But apartheid has affected every aspect…

       Tonight was an important night in demonstrating the important connections between the classroom and the larger world. Last semester, our class discussed the life of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman who was sold into slavery and whose body was…

I am a second year graduate student in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department at the University of Louisville. My particular interests in South Africa lie in anti-apartheid activism, women’s movements, and community organizing. I am especially…