I LOVE your comment- not offended at all. It actually makes me super happy. Really fills me with hope. THANK YOU for taking time to write- it really made my day.

Sincerely,
Annie

Thank-you for this thoughtful response to a beautiful film and more beautiful country. I am South African. I am white. I am family to many who live in Cape Town. I was in South Africa during the world cup and glued to the screen with the rest of the nation, waiting with bated breath to know if we would taste victory – in every sense of the word.

When we did you could feel the whole country exhale. And then celebrate. Everything came to a standstill. In the good way. And we held hands and hearts for a day.

I wanted to share some encouragement. When you write, “I would have thought like the other white people. And I would have thought segregation was good for my country,” this is not necessarily so. ESPECIALLY if you were a white girl from Cape Town. Not to parse words, but just to reassure – there were many, many white people during the Apartheid days who stood up to the Government. The majority of them were English speakers. And most English speakers in SA are congregated in the coastal areas. (White) students at the University of Cape Town were notorious for their anti-apartheid demonstrations. I had friends who were jailed for their refusal to serve in the SA army and fight the border wars against Zim. It was a painful time filled with courage. And if it hadn’t been for both brave folks from many of the 11 language groups in South Africa, change might not have come.

But we are so very grateful to the Lord that it did. And Madiba and Bishop Tutu played cornerstone roles in that transformation. And my whole family loved this movie for how beautifully it showed Madiba’s understanding of what true leadership is; how to bring a fractured nation together through a common love and a shared victory.

He is wonderful on every level. No surprise that his birthday is a national holiday!

I hope you can take this comment not as a criticism but rather as an insight and an encouragement from someone who shares all your attributes and was there. And who loved the movie as much as you did!

Blessings,

Lisa-Jo

We saw it a few days ago and it has been rolling around in my head ever since.

thanks for your insight, Annie!

anyways, thanks for the reminder and for asking the hard questions. The sad truth is that I feel like there’s still a lot of racism and barriers to overcome here too — I know that, a lot of times, there’s that wall you were talking about even with the families I work with in the inner-city . . . it’s hard to undo years and years of hurts I guess!

Now I’ve got to go see that movie.