Elise celebrates Human Rights Day

March 21^st is Human Rights Day, a national holiday in South Africa. It commemorates the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, a turning point in the fight against apartheid. Just about everything shuts down and people get an extra day or two off from work. Instead of going to class that day, we had the day to do whatever we wanted. Luckily, there were plenty of activist-oriented events happening in Cape Town. 

That morning I went with Africa Unite to Nyanga for an awesome celebration of Human Rights Day. When we arrived in the township we met a bunch of children dancing inside a church who joined us in a march around the neighborhood. The march itself was very laid back, and even though it was mainly themed around gendered violence people held signs for whatever issue mattered to them. Everyone participating sang and danced the whole way until we came to a small street near Sithembele Matiso High School. While an artist prepared a wall along the road for a mural, members of Africa Unite set up drums and led the children in all kinds of dances. I had a face-paint marker and for most the morning was swarmed by kids asking for drawings on their face. I drew countless stars, hearts, and flags. And even when a child had their face covered they’d come back later and ask for more on their arms and wherever they could fit another picture. Once the marker ran dry I helped paint the mural that read “Africa Unite Stop Gender Violence: Men Can Stop Rape, Women Don’t Be Silent.”

 

Elise and Andrea join folks from Africa Unite in painting mural

Human Rights Day has a heavy significance in South Africa . ‘Human rights’ is too often followed with ‘violations’. While everyday here we are faced with all kinds of issues and a pressing need to address them. I really enjoyed my time with Africa Unite that day because it felt like more like a celebration—rather than a lament—of human rights. While we could have spent that time talking about everything wrong with the country and all the things that need fixing, we just enjoyed the company of a bunch of awesome people. It was about friendships and fun, the simple kinds of things that I think the phrase ‘human rights’ is meant to achieve.