Extraterrestrial Segregation

    District 9 is a thought-provoking film about how humankind handles extraterrestrial life visiting earth. It is exiting and fast-paced, but still touches on deeper topics like segregation, xenophobia, and human nature. The scene is set in Johannesburg, 1982. A large spaceship hovers over the city for weeks, showing no activity. Eventually, the South African government takes it upon themselves to physically cut their way in to learn what was on board. Much to their horror, they find millions of sick and dying aliens living in inhumane conditions. They are quickly moved to District 9, a wired-off area just south of Johannesburg, to live. After 20 years of living there, the population of these aliens, commonly referred to as the derogatory title prawns, has dramatically increased and District 9 has become a shanty town for them. The prawns are manipulated sell valuable possession for cat food, brutally killed for science experiments and much more.

    The plot of the movie tells the story of Wikus van de Merwe slowly turning into a prawn after being exposed to chemicals from their ship. Because of this, he is able to operate the prawn's advanced machinery/weaponry and became the most valuable man in the world. This leads the South African government to send people after him to capture and experiment on him. Partway through his transformation, he meets a prawn named Christopher who is searching for a way to get back to his ship and return home. Christopher tells Wikus that there are machines on his ship that can heal him, so they begin working together. After finally finding a way to get back up to his ship, Christopher tells Wikus that he needs to use all of the fuel to return back to his home planet as fast as possible and make them aware of the injustices that are being imposed on the prawns. He promises to be pack in 3 years, and the movie ends with Wikus as a prawn living in District 9.

    This movie gives some profound insight to segregation, and draws many parallels with Apartheid. In the very beginning, the prawns are portrayed as unintelligent and inferior to humans. This is very similar to the mindset of a majority of the white population towards blacks during Apartheid. The prawn Christopher is a sobering counter to this idea of them being an inertly unintelligent species. His  knowledge of technology, and ability to do work without being noticed by the government is a testimony to this. Also, the movie does a very good job of having the audience follow along with Wikus's journey. In the beginning he treated the prawns very poorly, but the further he changed into one of them the more he sympathized and respected them. Because of this, the further the story progressed, the further the audiences sympathy for the prawns progressed.

    District 9 holds a place in my heart as one of my all-time favorite movies. It does a very good job of mixing entertaining, albeit vulgar, dialogue with serious themes, and an engaging plot. This great blend allows for deeper thinking about segregation and unethical treatment alongside laughing whenever you hear Wikus drop the F-bomb with his thick South African accent. The director, Neill Blomkamp, is a native of Johannesburg South Africa. Despite this, none of his other popular films take place there. There is a potential sequel called District 10 that tells the story of what happens when Christopher comes back 3 years later. I would recommend watching this movie, because it is entertaining and engaging, and if District 10 comes to fruition, it will assuredly be worthy of recommendation.

Scott, A.O.. "A Harsh Hello for Visitors From Space." The New York Times. N.p., 13 Aug. 2009. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/movies/14district.html>.

Scott, A.O.. "A Harsh Hello for Visitors From Space." The New York Times. N.p., 13 Aug. 2009. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/movies/14district.html>.


Evan King- A1

The Black Christ - Nashiya Russell

Ronald Harrison was a South African painter. Harrison began painting at the age of 16. In the year 1962 during the Apartheid era his most famous work was the Black Christ. The Black Christ was unveiled at St Luke's Church. It depicted African National Congress leader Chief Albert Luthuli. As a result of this famous work he was arrested and tortured by the security police. The painting was forced into the United Kingdom and later banned from South Africa and was returned in 1997.

The Black Christ was the journey to freedom. Harrison was nearly 15 years old when apartheid's enforces arrived at Sophiatown, near Johannesburg, and dismantled the entire black township within just a few hours. In 1995 the ANC adopted Freedom Charter. The preamble stated that “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on upon the will of the people.” This is important to me because I feel like this is the truth, if people live in South Africa they should be treated fairly and with the same respect that one deserves. People in South Africa shouldn't feel as though they aren't welcomed or that they don't belong, they should be able to feel as though they are love and being treated equally. It shows how things have changed from then to now, because during this time period race was a huge issue and certain people of certain color got more privalages than others did.

Harrison was gravitating more towards art. He pondered upon whether or not he could somehow contribute to the liberation movement. As a Christian, Harrison felt that the apartheid regime claimed the mantle of Christianity; however, Luthuli, himself represented the other more emancipatory face of their faith. The Dutch reformed church, which apartheid, proponents belonged asked Luthuli to repudiate publicly this representation as a crucified “Black Saviour.” Harrison viewed Luthuli as a man of piece.

The Black Christ is super important to me and it allows me to reflect. It explains the troubles faced during Apartheid and how so many people struggled and if they spoke out about anything they would be punished. It's good to know that Ronald Harrison viewed Albert Luthuli as someone of peace and that he didn't view him in a negative way. I compare this to today's world, because so many things over time has changed, before no one was really able to speak out about how they felt but now there is a such thing called freedom of speech. Things are totally different than what they used to be, although, we still face daily issues they are issues that we can speak out on because of the freedom we now have today.

I would recommend you all to view or look deeper into the Black Christ because I feel as though it is very inspirational and inspiring and it helps you to reflect and look at how we as a whole have come so far. So many things in life that we have, we should truly appreciate because back in that era most people didn't have the ability to speak out on what they believed in.

Resources:

• http://www.vinaylal.com/ESSAYS(LCP)/art3.pdf
• http://books.google.com/books?id=e9jtkrIB4VwC&pg=PA182&lpg=PA182&dq=ronald+harrison+black+christ&source=bl&ots=bN68WYBnnk&sig=p0UdJfspmjeY8ZMs7115LKmQfZk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sayzUvrYH4jJsQTYo4LYDA&ved=0CFgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=ronald%20harrison%20black%20christ&f=false
• "The Black Christ." Web log post. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.

Sharpeville Massacre- Jade d.

     On March 21^st, 1960, South African police forces invaded a town called Sharpeville. These police forces fired on a crowd of protestors that had resulted in approximately 160 injuries and 69 deaths, among which were women and children. This massacre is known to be the first and most violent protest in South Africa against apartheid.

     This massacre isn’t just considered violent because of the numerous amount of deaths and injuries that occurred on that day. The participating protestors evidently had also been involved with vicious actions that included throwing rocks at police cars.

     The demonstrators present at the protest were from a group called the “Pan- Africanist Congress” which developed their ideas and beliefs based off of the African National Congress and are now considered a minor political party in South Africa. The Pan Africanists Congress planned this protest in result of the requirement of their reference books. All men, women, and children were required to carry reference books with them wherever they went. Reference books contained a person’s name, tax code, employment details, and just their general personal information. If stopped by a police officer and lacked your reference book, it could result in being arrested or detained for up to 30 days.

      In protesting against reference books, all the demonstrators were to leave their reference books at home and intentionally bestow themselves in front of the police station and police officers to be arrested. The leader of this demonstration was the leader of the Pan- Africanist Congress, Robert Subukwe. His theory was that the prisons wouldn’t be capable of tending to all of the protestors therefore the economy would struggle.

     With the amount of demonstrators that were present at the march, Subkwe felt like his protest was going to be successful. Unfortunately, the police, unhesitant to express their dominance over the South Africans, fired into the crowds. The first shots were fired in front of the Sharpeville Police Station where roughly 5,000 to 7,000 people gathered to abolish the requirement of reference books. About 300 police officers had assembled together in response to the protest and shot randomly in the crowd.

     In result of the violent massacre, the government declared a state of emergency. Alas thousands of South Africans were arrested and the Pan Africanist Congress was outlawed, along with the African National Congress. The goal of the protestors was to banish reference books and sadly, this event had led to a loss in hope of a better society. Many South Africans were then convinced that peaceful protests were not successful, consequently favoring more violent demonstrations.
      Today, people in South Africa acknowledges March 21^st as “Human Rights Day” in honor of the protest at Sharpeville. It pains me to imagine the good intentions of South Africans going out to demonstrate a non-violate protest in attempt to gain the rights they deserve and instead in murder and arrests. My recommendations for the future studiers of the Sharpeville Massacre is to look further in depth into the work that the that the African National Congress performed along with the Pan Africanist Congress. Personally, I would find it interesting to become knowledgeable of their actions in fighting for African’s rights and learning about their organization’s history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVMPlVBm29Y

Jade d. 

"Sharpeville Massacre (South African History)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.

"1960: Scores Die in Sharpeville Shoot-out." BBC News. BBC, 21 Mar. 1960. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.

Website

Artist Brett Murray

            Brett Murray, well-known for his sculptures, is a white south-african who began working in art during the later half of the twentieth century. While he predominantly works with steel sculptures, he also does some painting and other artwork. No matter what he is doing, however, he always tries to incorporate a sense of neutrality in his work; He wants people to see and understand others' perspectives and opinions, and to see life as a whole from an outside point of view. He attempts to accomplish this by adding satirical, eye-opening affects to whatever he is doing. Even with good intentions, this still can be misinterpreted for ignorance, or could be disliked by people who are intolerant to new ideas. An example of this can be seen in one of Brett's recent pieces called "The Spear". 

            The painting is of Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa, and exposes him in an indecent manner. While it was only meant to symbolically represent the corruption in government, it caused an uproar around the country. Throughout the turmoil, Brett continued to persist that he express his opinions. The way that Brett Murray communicated these thoughts and opinions was especially useful during apartheid because he could help people to see from a different point of view what it really was. Without his contribution, it might have taken longer to abolish apartheid, and I believe that the world would be lacking his artwork.

            People like Brett Murray can teach us about how peoples' opinions may differ, but that we should try to understand and fix everything as a whole. Apartheid, being a time of segregation and racism, was filled with assumptions, corruption, and misinterpretations that could easily have been spotted if there were more people like him. I believe that learning more about Brett and people like him will enable us to help others to be more open minded and tolerant to new points of view, which is essential to fixing problems that we may or may not even know are there. This leads me to recommend his artwork to almost everyone, because it is not only educational and historical, but can also be interesting to look at.

1A, 12/19/13

Evan P.

Religion in South Africa During Apartheid

                There were many different religions going around during Apartheid in South Africa. A big influence was Christianity. “Critics of apartheid often blame Christians for its existence claiming that racial oppression in South Africa is the fruit of Christianity.” Even though Christianity was a large influence on them they had other religions come over also. Like Catholicism or the Angelican church. In some Christian churches though, they began to support racial segregation and apartheid. Racial segregation was widely accepted in church in the early 20^th century. The belief in racial segregation was increasing in acceptance with white south Africans.

                The largest domination was the Dutch Reform Church. It arrived South Africa in the 17^th century. The church gained attention as the state religion. Most of the Dutch Reformed churches share similar  beliefs as the Calvinist. They believed that God was wise, eternal, infinite, & the creator of the universe. “He has planned the life and the fate of each individual on earth; the "chosen" are saved, as long as they adhere to the church's teachings. The Bible--both the Old Testament and the New Testament--is the final authority on religious matters.”

                As the blacks began to transition to the religion, the church members discuss the question of racial segregation. Back in 1881 the Dutch Reformed Mission church made a colored church. Then in 1910, when the blacks basically made up 10% of the population of the community, “the synods established the NGK…”

                When apartheid was being questioned, the church leaders were just more committed to apartheid than the members of the church. Some Dutch Reformers were against apartheid though. An example is Reverend Beyers Naude, who actually left his whites only church (1970s) then to join a black parish. The other attempts of the other church leaders who worked to try to reduce the church’s image of being racist were often “constrained”.

                Back in the 1990s, the black South Africans made a large portion of the Christian church. Many became involved in the efforts to reverse to reverse apartheid.

                “Leaders of the Church of the Province of South Africa, the Anglican Church, spoke out in opposition to apartheid, but church members disagreed about tactics for expressing their views.” Many of the African Angelicans became leaders in the antiapartheid movement. The Methodist church (mostly black) quickly accepted the antiapartheid development. Religious alliances also came to be. The most active antiapartheid umbrella organization was The South African Council of Churches (SACC). They also offered encouragement. “Under the leadership of Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the 1980s, the SACC also attempted to withhold cooperation with the state, as much as possible, in protest against apartheid.” Most of the leaders of SACC were outspoken with their political views. They made a lot of complaints to government officials and also got together a lot of peaceful protests.

                The Christian League of Southern Africa got together in support of the governments apartheid policies. They had members of the Dutch Reformed and other churches. 

• "South Africa-Religion and Apartheid." South Africa-Religion and Apartheid. N.p., n.d. Web. 
  Reverend Beyers Naude 

Alfred Kumalo- Photographer of apartheid

Alfred Kumalo’s photographs, many of which are famous around the world, capture intense and captivating moments in South African history.  Alf Kumalo was born in Johannesburg on September 5^th, 1930, and attended college at Wilberforce Institute at Evaton. Kumalo began working as a journalist for Bantu World where he took pictures to go along with his stories. He didn't have any training with photography, but they seemed to love his work! A few years later he found a permanent job at Golden City Post. Throughout the years, Kumalo had documented the history of South Africa. Along with photographing actions of the Apartheid, he photographed the Student Uprising of 1976, the 1980s State Emergency, and the unbanning of the liberation movements, the Codesa talks, the first democratic elections, and the beginning of South Africa’s first democratic government. Kumalo was very privileged to attend these historical scenes, given the fact that there was the possibility of arrest and harassment. Kumalo was influential to South Africa and apartheid because his photographs showed the intensity and brutality of the effects of what happened during that period of time. He also took many pictures of Nelson Mandela, before and after he was imprisoned. In the 1990s, as apartheid fell, Kumalo photographed the country’s first democratic elections and the inauguration of Mandela as its first black president. “Alf Kumalo was more than a documentary photojournalist; he was, above all, one of South Africa’s eminent historians,” a former president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, said in a statement. “No one could contradict the truth of what he captured so competently through the lens. Aware that the power of his narrative was unimpeachable, the apartheid regime subjected him to constant harassment in the hope that Kumalo, a humble and tenacious man of integrity, would abandon his work or sell his soul altogether. He did not.” Alf Kumalo died on October 21^st, 2012, in Johannesburg. I personally really enjoyed looking at Kumalo’s photos. They are very intense and the fact that the pictures are in black and white make the pictures really dark and heavy, which is how people felt during these times. There is something about Kumalo’s pictures that show a lot more emotion and intensity than a regular 1970s picture. His keenness to actually experience the hardship of apartheid just so that he could get a photo is very admirable. I think that him doing that and me, knowing that he did that, is what makes me see the picture differently than I had the first time I saw his work. I really liked doing research on Alfred Kumalo. He is unlike any other photographer I've come across and, yes I actually do look at professional photographers from time to time. I absolutely love taking pictures and I think it would be very fun to be professional! One thing, that I can say that I got from looking at Kumalo’s pictures is I think I'll be using the black and white effect on some of my pictures. It really does tell a completely different story from the original colors. -Bea M

·         

Weber, Bruce. "Alf Kumalo, Whose Photography Indicated Apartheid, Dies At 82." The New York Times. The New York Times, 14 Nov. 20012. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.

·       

  "Alf Kumalo." Http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/9634223/Alf-Kumalo.html. Telegraph, 25 Oct. 2012. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.

Unification of South Africa

Invictus is a film that presents one of many the steps Nelson Mandela took to unite his country, South Africa. Elected into office in 1994, it was a necessity to bring everyone together; however there were some who hindered this process due to the distaste of the Afrikaner’s presence. These individuals were in favor of omitting all oppression and the Rugby team, The Springboks, is apart of this oppression with the view of being the team of White South Africa. Since Mandela has a love for the sport he chooses to stand up for the team and pushes to make it the team of South Africa. In the process of doing so he creates a relationship with the team captain, Francoise Pieenar. He talks to the team and lays out his goal of the team winning; after this the team trains hard, plays with the native children, and spins time in the prison where Nelson Mandela spent twenty-seven years in. By advocating for the team and verbally telling them that he wants them to win, Mandela adds extreme importance on the victory for the whole country not just for one group. With the teams participation in the native side of the South African community it shows that they can be trusted and that there is kindness. The movie ended with the victory of the South African team, which was very significant for the country. The significance and importance of the victory was that it unified the country. With the support from Nelson Mandela the team was able to come on top representing all of South Africa not just one side, and with his positivity and approval he provided the native side of the country with legitimacy of the team’s existence. With the image of one who fought for the rights of his people, Nelson Mandela added importance to unity and therefor a lot of people looked up to him.

         Although Apartheid ended before Mandela was elected, there was still a mindset of the policy that still existed; in fact it still exists mentally, socially, and economically today. This is a great example of how the confinement from living a normal and fair lifestyle can affect people. Even though Apartheid ended, it’s a decade later and there is still no equality. It serves as a mental precedent, sticking to the subconscious and reminding individuals that they are nothing and it also builds hatred and resentment to the opposing group. With the knowledge that I had on apartheid, I was able to understand the reason why Nelson Mandela made it a necessity to have a unified country. If he didn’t take the necessary steps he did South Africa would have been how it was before, even though there isn’t a significant change there is a sense of unity.

         If one chooses to watch the movie, I recommend that before watching it they should have knowledge of Apartheid. This knowledge should include the affects of it, who was involved, and those who made a difference. Most importantly they should have knowledge of Nelson Mandela. It is important to know these things because the topic happens after the abolishment of the laws of Apartheid, but everything comes together when understanding Nelson Mandela’s actions.   

Makaela Johnson 2A

Resources: 

First Picture:  Whitty, Stephen. "'Invictus' Movie Review: Powerful Acting Outweighs Flaws in Post-Apartheid Tale." NJ.com. New Jersey On-Line LLC, n.d. Web. 

Second Picture: "Some Healthy Food Fun: Dinner and a Movie Invictus My Tribute to One of My Inspirations, Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013." The Gaia Health Blog. The Gaia Health Blog, n.d. Web.

Topic( "Invictus"): Invictus 2009. Dir. Clint Eastwood. Perf. Nelson Mandela. Warner Bros., 2009.