Talking Journeys of Belonging 2 Blackness Goes to South Africa & Zimbabwe!

For those who have been following the podcast, its Season 5 and we are grateful to each of our dedicated listeners and supporters.  In fact, the podcast has grown in the number of countries listeners download and stream from—currently it’s 71 countries globally and counting!  I think that’s a testament to the fact people not only enjoy the content but they’re telling their friends and family too.  Of course, we will continue to deliver fantastic content—with great guests—and cover topics that represent the diversity of Blackness across the diaspora.

With that said, I am proud to share this February 2024 kicks off my special interview series focused on my diasporic journeys. Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to mix work and play together when I traveled to the continent of Africa—for the first time!  My travels brought me to two beautiful countries in southern Africa: South Africa and Zimbabwe. With the help of guides Valentino Meirotti, Prem Orrie, and Jay Naidoo, I visited beautiful cities and townships and met with so many interesting people. So, for the remainder of season 5, I want you to journey with me as I share my musings, observations and conversations with folks as I traversed South Africa and Zimbabwe. 

My first stop brought me to Johannesburg and SOWETO where I visited major historical sites to reflect on the history and vestiges of South Africa’s apartheid system that exists today. While there, I had the opportunity to meet with Antoinette Sithole, the sister of Hector Pieterson– an emblem of the June 16 1976 Student Uprising. Antoinette Sithole is the Ambassador and Co-founder of Driving Education Culture, which is an initiative that focuses on nurturing a brighter future through education for youth. 

Standing outside the museum and facing the memorial site, Antoinette Sithole described to me that fateful day–the murder of her younger brother, the aftermath, and the legacy of the Hector Pieterson Museum and Memorial site. Together, the memorial and museum commemorates those who died in the uprisings and celebrates the students’ role in the struggle for freedom. When you go inside, there are a range of exhibits that include television footage of the uprising, collection of oral testimonies, pictures, audiovisual displays and historical documents relating to the events of 1976 and its aftermath, as well as the process that led to June 16 now recognized as a public holiday called Youth Day.

Be sure to listen to my conversation with Antoinette Sithole available on February 13, 2024, Episode #44 across all podcast platforms!

My “Call To Adventure”: Johannesburg (Joburg) and SOWETO

Johannesburg is one of the continent of Africa’s largest and most vibrant cities. It is the economic capital of Africa and the gateway to Southern Africa.  Downtown Joburg is a multi-cultural mixture of traditional medicine shops, high-end shopping, restaurants, cultural centers, University buildings, and ultra-modern skyscrapers, which reminded me of my hometown of New York City (specifically Brooklyn). There are excellent museums, art galleries and many sites of historical, economic and political interest, including areas along the mining belt.

Bordering Johannesburg’s mining belt, SOWETO is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The name SOWETO is an acronym for “South Western Township.” Developed as a segregated area for Black people under South Africa’s apartheid system, SOWETO is a locale of pride, filled to the brim with vibrant culture and beautiful people, and incredible history.

My route into SOWETO passed the famed Orlando Towers bungee jump where thrill-seekers can jump 100 metres (or 328 ft) from a suspension bridge.

I first visited the historic Regina Mundi Church, which means “Queen of the world” in Latin, which was built in 1961 and is in Rockville, SOWETO, South Africa. As the largest Roman Catholic Church in the country, the enormous interior can accommodate up to 5000 people (seats for 2K and standing room for 3K). Regina Mundi is renowned for its pivotal role during in the anti-apartheid struggle when the church provided a refuge to activists, as it was illegal for gatherings greater than three people to congregate. The apartheid government considered any gatherings as disorderly and a threat to the government’s efforts to ban what they deemed as racial harmony. So, imagine—it wasn’t just regular church services but weddings and funerals that were used as opportunities for activists and organizers to gather and plan.

Regina Mundi Church also played a role in SOWETO’s most significant day, June 16 1976, when school children ages 5 and 6 years old to 17 years old, revolting against the emerging policy that imposed Afrikaans teaching to Black schools, ran into the church. Again, it’s also close by the site where 12 year old Hector Pieterson was among the children shot and killed.  Scared for their lives, these school children were followed by police, who shot and injured many, firing tear gas into the church. The police damaged the marble altar and the figure of Christ, leaving bullet holes in the ceiling and some walls. Even during my visit, while much of the damage has since been repaired, there are certain sections in the church’s walls where you can still see bullet holes. Years later, post-apartheid, the Regina Mundi Church served as the site of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings from 1995 to 1998, which Archbishop Desmond Tutu presided.  

Walking into the church, it is apparent why it remains a symbol of hope to not just parishioners but to many in the community and beyond.  Between the beautiful pillars and the immense stained-glass windows that tell the story of South Africa’s “recent” history, including the June 16 1976 uprising to the installation of the country’s first democratic president Nelson Mandela, it also houses The Black Madonna. Also named The Madonna and Child of SOWETO, artist Larry Scully was commissioned to paint this 8-foot by 5-foot painting in 1973 to raise money for an education fund for Black South Africans.  Later, Harry Oppenheimer, a prominent South African businessman, an outspoken anti-apartheid politician and chairman of De Beers, purchased the painting and donated it to Regina Mundi Church.   

According to the artist Scully, “the Madonna is Black because her people are Black and because she is making a statement about being with them rather than just their colonizers.” The powerful image is of a Black Madonna holding a Black Baby Jesus. Below the Madonna and Baby Jesus, the artist painted an eye, with its pupil representing the township of SOWETO. Two black forks run across the eye toward the pupil representing the pain inflicted on Black people. Finally, the center of the eye is a cross that represents the Church.

Less than 10 minutes away or so from Regina Mundi Church, I also visited Vilakazi Street, one of the most famous streets and the only street in the world to have produced two Nobel Prize winners, President Nelson Mandela and Reverend Desmond Tutu.  Located on the street is Mandela House, which currently serves as a museum for both Nelson Mandela and Winnie Mandela. Nelson Mandela lived there from 1946 until 1962, when he was arrested and imprisoned for 27 years for “conspiring to overthrow the government’s apartheid regime.” It was the same home Winnie Mandela resided in with their children and where she maintained her activities to fight for equal rights for Blacks in South Africa. Today, this four-room house contains a collection of artifacts and other personal items of the Mandela family. Mandela House and some of these sites are nestled in a neighborhood community where people live, work and play every day.

Another notable stop I made in Joburg was a visit to the Apartheid Museum.   Upon entering the building, you are randomly given an admission ticket that indicates that you’ve been randomly classified as Whites or Non-Whites. And depending on your classification ticket, it determined which door you were allowed to enter the Museum, with the expectation that this distinction would “color” (pun intended) your experience with confronting the system of apartheid.

As a sociologist, I viewed the content of the Museum’s exhibits, both permanent and temporary, as powerful. Curators of the exhibits point to the similarities between U.S. Jim and Jane Crow segregation policies and South Africa’s system of apartheid, while emphasizing its intentional design to subjugate, exploit and oppress Blacks and those classified as “Coloured” (e.g., Indian, Malaysian, Khoi San, and mixed race).

The systematic ways apartheid policies, as promoted by the government from 1948 until the  early 1990s, intended to not only segregate and discriminate on the grounds of race but to effectually (1) decimate whole ethnic groups (i.e., indigenous Africans, Khoisan peoples) by ridding them off the land and infecting them with diseases like smallpox; (2) pushing Blacks and those classified as “Coloureds” to specific townships; (3) banning all non-whites’ ability to access quality health, education and economic opportunity for upward mobility; and (4) establishing a “divide and conquer” approach to establish intra-group competition between these groups. To be clear, racial segregation and system oppression didn’t begin in South Africa in 1948 but can be traced all the way back to Dutch and British colonial settlement from the 1600s.

The large-scale colonization project led by Dutch East India laid the groundwork to help segregate populations (i.e., the indigenous Africans they enslaved and indentured; the enslaved Africans from places like Angola; and those enslaved from Malaysia, India and Southeast Asia) and relegate them into classification groups. This categorization process became necessary for the purpose of identity and nation building: it helped to define concepts of “whiteness” and “non-whiteness” while establishing which groups should have access and lay claim to the rich, mineral and highly valuable land and the opportunities that are afforded to those who possess it. 

The vestiges of apartheid remain apparent for all to see, despite efforts by the democratic government to employ Black Economic Empowerment and other affirmative action policies. We still see this in the divide between Blacks and Coloureds in terms of reclamation of their racial and distinct ethnic identities: who can get to claim “Blackness” and have access to reparations? For instance, the indigenous Khoisan are designated as “Coloured” but not “Black” since the period of apartheid because they do not fit into a binary race model.  Yet, this categorization has condemned them into oblivion to this day. The current government does not recognize them as South Africa’s first inhabitants and heirs to much of the land white settlers stole and used to amass wealth. As a result, the few indigenous Khoisan that remain also live in extreme poverty.

Indeed, Joburg is an international hub in beautiful South Africa, yet there remains economic exclusion, racism and other forms of discrimination that impact so many, and especially Blacks. There is significant unemployment rates (at 33%, ranking #2 in the world), with almost 50% of young people without jobs, and about half the population living in extreme poverty, with 80% of South Africans identifying as Black. So, venturing to the Apartheid Museum helped to give me additional context for understanding the contemporary social and economic divides I was witnessing when I traveled through the various neighborhoods of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Ehlanzeni, Graskop, and Bo-Kaap, to name a few. Yet during my travels, I also learned to appreciate the joy, love and resiliency of diverse South Africans of Xhosa, Shona, Tswana and other backgrounds, who live and thrive in these same communities too!

There was so much that I learned and want to share with you all.  But that’s for another time! Stay tuned for posts where I share my journey and venture to other parts of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Be sure to subscribe to the website to get the latest updates & follow on IG: @ProfYndia and @JourneysB2B_Podcast