English 1110.03
Mike Lohre
November 26th 2012
Exploration 11
One of my favorite passages from the essays was from Reformation and Reconciliation in South Africa by Frederik Willem de Klerk, the passage reads "The coming election will not be about the past. It will be about the future. It will not be about Blacks or Whites, or Afrikaners and Xhosas. It will be about the best solutions for the future in the interests of all our people. It will not be about apartheid or armed struggle. It will be about future peace and stability, about progress and prosperity, about nation building." This has importance to me because it's showing someone who is not going to back down, a person who is going to stand up for what they believe in and why they believe in it.
After being an information officer for quite some time, de Klerk finally met with imprisoned ANC leader Nelson Mandela. No more than a year later de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize right along side Mandela.
http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/frederik-willem-de-klerk
The Dalai Lama is both the head of state and the spiritual leader of Tibet. Tibet is going through a very rough time right now, people are out there living in a consent fear and this brings tears to the Dalai Lama's eyes because of the madness going on. People have been setting themselves on fire to protest the hold that China has on Tibet.
A older farmer running through the streets after setting himself on fire in a protest move and in religion. More than 80 people have done this, more people will still do it until China backs off.
I like your quote from our reading. South Africa still has a long ways to go from the words of FW. de Klerk, but so do we.
ReplyDeleteIt's very sad to see that people are setting themselves on fire in order to protest their oppressors. It's hard to believe that one's voice could feel so shut out that they would have to go to such an extreme measure as this.
I like your quote, and I find it interesting that after he saw how people were suffering, he acted quickly to put an end to it. I cannot believe that people are setting themselves on fire in a way to protest.
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