Freedom is not free!

 One of the main reasons for coming to Cape Town was to go to Roden Island. But it was not to be, as the sea was too rough.

I felt like crying, but strongly believe all things happen  for the greater good, so know all will be well tomorrow.

So we pushed things forward and took on the museums today.

It was wonderful and because  today is Human Rights Day, a public holiday, entry was free.

Now, I am by no means an expert on museums, but have been to a few in my short life, and this Iziko Slave Lodge is by far one of the best I have ever visited, in terms of information and displays.

I don’t know if it was deliberate but I never detected a pause between slavery and apartheid. 

For the struggle for freedom and human rights in South Africa never really ceased with abolition.

I was a bit disappointed to see that Winnie Mandela was written out of the history though.

 For yes, she found other lovers when Nelson was incarcerated. But she was human wasn’t she?

The fact is though, without her non-stop years of struggle, his name would not have remained on the front pages throughout history.

My view!

Anyway I was overwhelmed that my favorite Reggae artist, the late great Peter Tosh, ❤️was memorialized in the section outlining the important role music had played in the struggle .

This was in a room dedicated to the role of music in the struggle for freedom and throughout, South African Freedom songs are played non stop in the background. 

There is so much to talk about I just don’t know where to start!😊

Another thing , I had just recently learnt that since slaves had no identity, the names they were given in South Africa represented the month they were brought to these terrible shores.

Another room was dedicated to that era.

They also had a comprehensive map showing where the  slaves were brought from and the route they traveled to get here.

Then there was a room displaying the weapons the white people brought versus what the invaded people had at their disposal.

African weapons 

The white man’s arsenal.



Another thing I loved was how they tied in Egyptian history into Africa, for that’s where it belongs. 

However, some revisionists would have you believe Egypt is no where close to Africa.

It took me a total of 23 hours to get here, but this visit to the Iziko Slave Lodge and the Cape of Good Hope (so far) made it more than worth the effort. 

Kids perform outside Iziko Slave Lodge. 

Don’t believe me, just pay a visit and see if you agree.

MEMORIES 

The street outside 

Unadulterated Racism

I am a great supporter of strong opposition parties for good opposition parties keep governments on their toes.

The Republican party in the USA is however confusing opposition with personal hatred and have brought politics to a new low. For the shrill attacks that they have been launching at President Barak Obama since his election, are displaying nothing but raw, unadulterated hatred based on their belief that a black man should never ascend to the high office of Presidency in the USA. Even former President Jimmy Carter has recognised it for what it is.

At first these attacks came under the guise that they were opposed to his programme for health care reform, but when one sees the placards that are displayed at the staged demonstrations, the vitriol comes blazing through and the demonstrations are exposed for what they are.

Even when the citizens of the USA stand to benefit greatly from initiatives taken by Obama, the republicans cheer wildly when they go awry, note their recent cheering when Chicago failed in its bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

Actually I find it quite hilarious that their hatred of Obama has even led them to end up in bed with the Taliban since the announcement that Obama has been awarded the prestigious Nobel peace prize. For according to the reports, both the Taliban and the republicans have violently condemned his selection! Maybe to be fair to them, the Republicans cannot see what Obama has done for world peace for as they say "nearer to church further from God". The fact is however, the rest of the peace loving world was glad to see the departure of the warlord Bush and his entourage, for as long as they remained, armed conflict anywhere and everywhere, was only a step away. We need only be reminded that North Korea, Iran as well as Venezuela had been threatened with violence just before Bush's departure. In other words we have all found comfort in the change of attitude to conflict for, as the Nobel Judges said, they found his promise of disarmament and diplomacy too good to ignore.

Neither should we ever forget the hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians including women and children who have been killed or displaced because of Bush's senseless incursion into Iraq.

Yes the USA had a real problem with security after 9/11, but the threat never came from Iraq. In fact, most political watchers remain convinced that Bush only went into Iraq to get even with Saddam Hussein whom it is reported, had threatened the life of his father. What a price the Iraqi people have had to pay for a personal vendetta……as did many innocent Panamanian people when his father was president and invaded that country to get at Noriega, with whom he had fallen out

The election of Barack Obama with the promise of ending the current wars quickly and dealing with other troublesome matters using diplomacy rather than weapons of mass destruction, has therefore been met around the world with a huge sigh of relief, a sigh of relief that has obviously been heard by the committee awarding the Peace Prize.

Obama is therefore more than deserving of this great award as every human being except Republican war mongers, prefer peaceful negotiations to cowboy style destructive tactics..