AlionaGibson.com
Great Black South Africans
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18" H x 24" W - Full Color Poster
GREAT BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS
Steve Biko
John Langalibalele Dube
Princess Magogo kaDinizulu
Ellen Kuzwayo
Miriam Makeba
Esther Mahlangu
Justice Lucy Mailula
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Winnie Madikizela Mandela
James "Sofasonke" Mpanza
Charlotte Manye-Maxeke
Lilian Ngoyi
Soloman Tshekisho Plaatje
Dr. Mampele Rampele
Pixley ka Isaka Seme
Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe
Enoch Mankayi Sontonga
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Great Black South Africans
(this document is included with the GBSA poster)This project has been a labor of love. I started it in 2000 while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Timbavati Village, Acornhoek in the Northern Province of South Africa. Hardly a day has passed since I have come home (June 2001) that I have not thought about this project, it's become an obsession of sorts.
It took being in South Africa only a few months (and I was there for a total of twenty-eight) for me to get sick and tired of seeing the many monuments, statues, street and city names, parks and bridges named in honor of the South Africans who made signifi cant contributions to the history of that country; all of whom were White. I only saw one (the Hector Peterson memorial in Soweto) dedicated to the first child killed in the historic 1976 Soweto Uprising. Maybe there are more and I missed them but I will tell you this, in a vast majority Black country, they might as well be invisible. With all due respect, it's as if Nelson Mandela is the only Black person who has contributed greatly to South Africa.
Someone from home asked me to send him stamps with Black people on them. I wished I could have but while I was there I only came across one (Sol Plaatje-see poster) and he had to share the stamp! When I saw the pre-1994 money I nearly passed out: It has Jan Van Riebeeck on it - the first White man to land on the shores of South Africa in 1652. I want to do this project so that the children I grew to know and love (as well as my host family, friends, neighbors, colleagues etc.) will know about the contributions of Black people to South Africa. As it stands now, they will believe that only Whites have contributed greatly to their country. Even some of my teachers didn't know about some of the people in the project. I want them to stand tall and even though there is not much to visibly express it right now, to be proud of the contributions of Black people to South African history.
While researching for this poster I discovered a historical link between African-Americans and Black South Africans. We went over as missionaries in the early part of the 1900's and a few of them came over to attend Black colleges like Wilberforce and Oberlin in Ohio, Tuskegee and even Columbia University. I had no idea. This has prompted me to research further into my findings and incorporate this information into a documentary I am planning to make about the relationship between African- Americans and South Africans, tentatively titled "Parallel Journeys."
The profits of this poster will go toward making the poster available in South Africa. Thank you for your support!
Copyright © 2005 Aliona L. Gibson
Note: You can find Aliona in the September / October 2006 issue of Oakland Magazine - scroll down the "In the Mix" column to About an Activist.
To purchase the GREAT BLACK SOUTH AFRICANS poster:
$15.00 - Great Black South Africans poster
$5.00 - Shipping and Handling in the USA
Total cost $20.00
Make out check or money order and mail to:
Aliona L. Gibson
P. O. Box 71387
Oakland, CA 94612Need more information? . Email Aliona at rivoningo@yahoo.com
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