<
https://theconversation.com/travel-as-activism-6-stories-of-black-women-who-refused-to-stay-put-in-apartheid-south-africa-263854>
"For black people living in South Africa during apartheid, simply moving around
the country was a fraught activity, let alone crossing its borders. This was
especially the case for black women, who were “rock bottom of the racial pile”,
as South African writer Lauretta Ngcobo expressed it.
Coming to power in 1948 and ruling for over 40 years before democracy in 1994,
the white-minority apartheid government took various race-based policies to
extremes. An emphasis was on trying to control movement, keeping the black
majority “in their place”.
From the 1950s, the state extended pass laws, targeting black women. It also
complicated overseas travel with extra bureaucratic and financial burdens.
Mobility restrictions caused an outcry, especially among the growing body of
black working women in industrialising cities and towns. These women connected
their everyday challenges with broader sociopolitical issues. They injected new
energy and forms of activism into organisations involved in the liberation
struggle, including the African National Congress (ANC).
In a recent study, I explore the stories of black women who refused to stay put
in the face of apartheid’s controls. For these women, mobility was a powerful
form of anti-apartheid resistance – and of self-assertion.
I highlight how in 1954, a number of these women, working across race lines,
founded the Federation of South African Women (Fedsaw) and drafted the Women’s
Charter. The pioneering document laid groundwork for the broader Freedom
Charter, which enshrined ideas on freedoms of movement and thought:
All shall be free to travel without restriction from countryside to town,
from province to province, and from South Africa abroad.
Even though these ideals would only be realised much later, these activist
women broke apartheid’s rules by travelling, exchanging ideas and making
connections across borders."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
