Out in Africa, Part One

Zimabwe, October 23, 2012

"Cecil John Rhodes and Leander Starr Jameson were partners. They were both gay," says Howard, our black Zimbabwean guide. Our assistant group leader Kelly crouches down to read the inscription.

Howard has led us on a steep, windy climb in Matopo Hills National Park to "View of the World," which the founder of Rhodesia, now called Zimbabwe, chose as his final resting place.

The view is impressive. Granite outcroppings with huge circular rocks and upright rectangular blocks perched precariously on top stretch to the horizon in all directions. No one has a good explanation of how these balancing rocks came to be, and they are one reason the Matopo Hills have been declared a  UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Despite Howard's nonchalance about his nation’s founder being gay, Becky and I are careful not to be too out in Africa. Homosexual acts in Zimbabwe are a criminal offence punishable by death.

 Within minutes of arriving in Africa a week earlier, however, we presented our passports to a South African immigration officer, who asked, "Are you two sisters?" Since South Africa’s constitution bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and since same-sex marriage has been legal in South Africa for six years, we took a deep breath and said, "No, we are married. To each other."

"Really?" she smiled. She knocked on the glass partition and called to the next immigration officer, "THESE LADIES ARE MARRIED TO EACH OTHER!" He nodded and flashed a smile.

“Welcome to South Africa!" she said, stamping our passports. "Next!"

Four days later, when we entered Zimbabwe, the immigration officer did not ask if we were sisters. Thank goodness.

Now, standing beside the grave of Cecil Rhodes, I reflect on the irony of a homosexual having founded a country with such violently homophobic laws. Why does Zimbabwe have such a different approach than South Africa? Is it their leadership? Charismatic Nelson Mandela, the first black president of South Africa, was committed to equality, non-violence, and forgiveness. Tyrannical Robert Mugabe, the first (and current) black president of Zimbabwe, seems committed to self-aggrandizement, ruthless power, and retaliation.

My musings are interrupted by the discovery of a grasshopper next to Rhode's grave. Here in Africa, even insects seem more colorful, like the birds!

Nancy Manahan

Visiting Apartheid

Johannesburg, October 20, 2012

On our second day in South Africa, Nancy and I found ourselves on Vilakazi Street in Soweto (SOuth WEst TOwnship). This modest street has been home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, who lived within a couple of blocks of each other.

Mandela House

Mandela lived on Vilakazi for eleven years with his first wife and for a short time with his second wife, Winnie, and their children. He went underground, was arrested for his anti-apartheid activism, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Winnie continued to live in their home with their daughters. Upon Mandela's release from prison after 27 years (1990), he returned to this house for 11 days before joining Winnie in a more private neighborhood. Their little 2-bedroom home is now a museum.

Under a tree in the small garden are buried the umbilical cords of Mandela's four children, a common practice in South Africa. Inside the house, Winnie had a wall built between the tiny living room and tinier kitchen so she and the children could take cover when police and troublemakers would shoot into the house.

Black Madonna, Soweto

At nearby Regina Muni Catholic Church, we saw bullet holes, where police dispersed anti-apartheid demonstrations from outside AND INSIDE the sanctuary. The guide pointed out the pew where Bill and Hillary Clinton sat, and had Nancy stand on the spot where Michelle Obama spoke in June 2011, near a beautiful portrait of the Black Madonna

Apartheid Museum segregated entrances

Near the city of Soweto is the Apartheid Museum where each visitor's ticket randomly identifies the holder as either white or non-white. I had to enter through the white gate while Nancy had to enter through the non-white gate. We were eventually joined, but it gave us a taste of the fanatical segregation documented inside

The stark, concrete and metal interior echoes the detention facilities of the apartheid era. Searing exhibits trace the history from 1948, when the first laws were passed, through the terrible years of ever-increasing oppression, until 1990 when the laws were rescinded and Nelson Mandela was released from prison.

The new government, with input from all levels of society, passed a Bill of Constitutional Rights that leaves the one drawn up by our Founding Fathers looking pretty thin. For instance, it bans discrimination based on marital status, gender, and sexual orientation as well as race. With same-sex marriage legal in South Africa, Nancy and I are legally married for our 4 days here

While it was a visit to a wrenching past, the Apartheid Museum was ultimately uplifting in its celebration of resistance to oppression.