deltex1
Gold Member
Cue the Chorus de Triumph
....."And as the son of an African father and a white American mother, the diversity of America was in my blood, but I had never cared much for politics. I didn't think it mattered to me. I didn't think I could make a difference. And like many young people, I thought that cynicism -- a certain ironic detachment -- was a sign of wisdom and sophistication.
But then I learned what was happening here in South Africa. And two young men, ANC representatives, came to our college and spoke, and I spent time hearing their stories. And I learned about the courage of those who waged the Defiance Campaign, and the brutality leveled against innocent men, women and children from Sharpeville to Soweto. And I studied the leadership of Luthuli, and the words of Biko, and the example of Madiba, and I knew that while brave people were imprisoned just off these shores on Robben Island, my own government in the United States was not standing on their side. That's why I got involved in what was known as the divestment movement in the United States.
It was the first time I ever attached myself to a cause. It was the first time also that I ever gave a speech. It was only two minutes long -- (laughter) -- and I was really just a warm-up act at a rally that we were holding demanding that our college divest from Apartheid South Africa. So I got up on stage, I started making my speech, and then, as a bit of political theater, some people came out with glasses that looked like security officers and they dragged me off the stage. (Laughter.) Fortunately, there are no records of this speech. (Laughter.) But I remember struggling to express the anger and the passion that I was feeling, and to echo in some small way the moral clarity of freedom fighters an ocean away.
And I'll be honest with you, when I was done, I did not think I'd made any difference -- I was even a little embarrassed. And I thought to myself -- what's a bunch of university kids doing in California that is somehow going to make a difference? It felt too distant from what people were going through in places like Soweto. But looking back, as I look at that 19-year old young man, I'm more forgiving of the fact that the speech might not have been that great, because I knew -- I know now that something inside me was stirring at that time, something important. And that was the belief that I could be part of something bigger than myself; that my own salvation was bound up with those of others."
http://allafrica.com/stories/201306300283.html
....."And as the son of an African father and a white American mother, the diversity of America was in my blood, but I had never cared much for politics. I didn't think it mattered to me. I didn't think I could make a difference. And like many young people, I thought that cynicism -- a certain ironic detachment -- was a sign of wisdom and sophistication.
But then I learned what was happening here in South Africa. And two young men, ANC representatives, came to our college and spoke, and I spent time hearing their stories. And I learned about the courage of those who waged the Defiance Campaign, and the brutality leveled against innocent men, women and children from Sharpeville to Soweto. And I studied the leadership of Luthuli, and the words of Biko, and the example of Madiba, and I knew that while brave people were imprisoned just off these shores on Robben Island, my own government in the United States was not standing on their side. That's why I got involved in what was known as the divestment movement in the United States.
It was the first time I ever attached myself to a cause. It was the first time also that I ever gave a speech. It was only two minutes long -- (laughter) -- and I was really just a warm-up act at a rally that we were holding demanding that our college divest from Apartheid South Africa. So I got up on stage, I started making my speech, and then, as a bit of political theater, some people came out with glasses that looked like security officers and they dragged me off the stage. (Laughter.) Fortunately, there are no records of this speech. (Laughter.) But I remember struggling to express the anger and the passion that I was feeling, and to echo in some small way the moral clarity of freedom fighters an ocean away.
And I'll be honest with you, when I was done, I did not think I'd made any difference -- I was even a little embarrassed. And I thought to myself -- what's a bunch of university kids doing in California that is somehow going to make a difference? It felt too distant from what people were going through in places like Soweto. But looking back, as I look at that 19-year old young man, I'm more forgiving of the fact that the speech might not have been that great, because I knew -- I know now that something inside me was stirring at that time, something important. And that was the belief that I could be part of something bigger than myself; that my own salvation was bound up with those of others."
http://allafrica.com/stories/201306300283.html
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