Where am I? In Johannesburg (Jobeg) South Africa and it is the 4th of July in America today and I am MIA (Missing in Action)
My efficient driver,"Mpho" a highly intelligent, handsome man around 30 speaks of corruption, poliics, greed ,and hate, which have been promulgated as correcting the evils of what the supposed white man has done to the under class"
I ask Mpho, What is the cause of this, though he states many things are better in his homeland now thanks to Nelson Mandella, who wanted a bright future for all South Africans, white black, and all cultures.
He tells me this after visiting at the Institute for Memory, a sub division of the Mandella Foundation which provides the professional work force to run the Institute where I meet a cheerful "Sarah" from Canada who is visiting for a month to help sort all the many gifts pouring in from arond the world for President Nelson Mandella..
Florence, whose facial feautrues resemble Mandella to such a degree that I couldn't resist asking, "Are you one of Mandella's relatives?" She chuckles as her body responds with a front and back movement which could easily pass for a tribal dance, only seated. She assured me she is no Mandella, but many people had thought too that she was a Mandella, and assures me that she would be proud to be a family member of the Mandellas.
Florence continues with her job of answering the myriad of phone calls that pour in from around the world, many coming from America, inquiring as to the health of the great leader. Like Martin Luther King Jr. who wanted to make it possible for all Americans to have liberty and freedom and the reality that we are all brothers and sisters under the skin. So this is true for "Mabiba" a term of endearment given to Nelson by all the people of South Africa.
Sanele Riba , head of archives for the Manbella Foundation showed me Mabiba's journal written in his exceptional penmanship which easily exposed Mabiba Manella's orgaanized and focused mind, his personal letters to his children which Zanela said Mandella was compelled to write as a father who needed to contine with the family structure in spoite of his imprisonment and how Mabiba requested that he be able to attend his mother's funeral since as the oldest boy and in African tradition it is the rank of the oldest boy to take the responsibility to bury mater (Latin for Mother) properly to show the respect and love of the mother( from whose body he came from?)
Sanele continues to explain that Mandella knew it was his duty to do this and that belief had been instilled in him virtually before he could walk or speak...His request to attend his mother's funeral was denied by the authorities during his incarceration.
I also learned during one of many cell raids by black and white guards that mysteriously two of Nelson Mandella's most important journals were confiiscated and he did not get them returned until after his release.
I planned on returning the next day to collect photos, unfortunately I had forgotten my Iphone, but I will have the good fortune to be blessed with seeing Mababa's santuary after his 13 year imprisonment...The place that provided privacy to collect his thoughts.
The door was locked and when Zanele offered to allow my entry sometime in the future, I quickly pounded on the invite, "How about tomoorow?" She smiled her beautiful smile and said, "We are so busy". I offered, "Definely next time?" , with a nod she agreed. I knew she had to get back to her important work in going through literally thounsads of archives and I watched her as she descended the beautiful wood steps.
The institutue had the environmental natural aroma of nature from the outside fountains to the abundance of South African plants which amazed me since I had attempted to nurture thiese same beautiful plants back at home in California/ where I had over watered them. I learned my lesson, and now my entry way in California held two different succulants, beautiful both in appearance and compatability to survive. A similar condition shared between African Americans both black and white and all shades, the same holds true for South Africa which now boasts of a demographic quite similar to America and things are getting better, yet still not close to where they need to be.
Getting back to my new friend/driver Mpho's answer to what is not working in South Africa, he told me how the Rhinos are being slaughtered for money. It sounded as if this beautiful specimen of nature will soon be on the list as an endangered specie, if not all ready, and he said, "They do it for money".
I asked why has this problem not been solved by now. He implied things are corrupt they look the other way. I asked, Who?" And he said, "It's the blacks that are causing most of the problems". And he told me about the slaughtering of the great Rhinos.
Of course the problem is not the skin color of the culprits, but we are all responsible...Let me make it clearer...It was Israel that supported Apartheid in South Africa which caused this injust practice to continue longer than what it needed to...
So who is guilty of the injustice? The quick easy answer is to say politics...I hear people blame O'Bama and that is only a partial truth, since the injustice didn't occur when Obama was even in office...The truer answer, in my belief is that we must all share in the injustices that continue, myself included, because we are so busy dancing the dance that none of us can keep up with.
Why? Because we must work, and work and work and work to pay anywhere from 50-90% in taxes without any representation. Right now we deserve the crooked politics.(not really) that we are receiving, because there are too many guttless people who refuse to get out of their comfort zone and take a leap of faith in changing things, which was the purpose for my 90/10 Plan I offered up last year. Greed is not good Mr. Geiko the character in "Wall Street"
So what about Bernie Made Off, interesting name right? Is he still behind bars, was he just a scape goat, did he ever really exist? Or was it all a figment of the minds of those that continue to dupe us all and we allow it, because we don't question? Oh I'm voting for O'Bama it'll be cool to have a black president, I thought we had one with Clinton?
In America we should reoeall the 16th Amendment which shackles,( as was done
to Preisdent Mandella and many others, white included) the wrists of gov't behind their backs and stop them from taxing us for their personal needs, with nothing to show for the people they suppoosedly represent.
Oh yes, they will continue to use race baiting, but we know this ploy has out lived its usefullness. There is supposedly no class system in America, unfortunately we now have one thanks only partly to O'Bama and mainly due to his predecessors, We need to say good by to the Czars and the leaders pissing on the floors of the White House, so to speak, or, perhaps, not so to speak.
Again, Happy 4th of July American citizens and ALL the Citizens of the world. What I learned about the people of South African, and it's not irony, but the fact is they're the same as us. Next time I'm looking forward to visiting Cape Town, and other places that the lovely people of South Africa mentioned. It proved to me that family is truly every where, for all of us.
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