by Dr. Catherin Fisher Collins
At the invitation of the University of South Africa’s Law school, I was asked to lecture on why the United States incarcerates so many African American people, specifically women. I had just released my award-winning book, The Imprisonment of African American Women—Causes Conditions and Future Implications that included a chapter on the international treatment of women of color, including Africa’s criminal justice system. This invitation to South Africa in 1999 allowed me the opportunity to attend a women’s conference at the University of Johannesburg; visit and interview women prisoners; create a documentary film of two prison settings; visit an animal preserve (most Americans were under the impression animals were running wild in the streets); visit Soweto; see the tin homes with no running water; spend some time at Sun City (south Africa’s Las Vegas); and most importantly, witness and feel the energy and passion behind the importance of voting—the topic of this article.
When we landed in Johannesburg and cleared customs, everyone from that point on was friendly and helpful. Excitement pervaded the atmosphere and remained that way throughout our stay, the main topic of conversation being the election of a new president. On our drive in from the airport (my son, Clyde accompanied me), we saw large political posters and lots of smaller campaign signs. I had no idea that I had booked our trip during one of the most exciting times, at the highest point of the second democratic presidential election season following the abolishment of apartheid. Thabo Mbeki, a close ally of Mandela would become the next president. I now feel compelled in this article to share what our sisters and brothers ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD went through to vote, in hope to show what we must do as well.
Johannesburg during our visit was buzzing everywhere with conversations about the importance of voting. In a restaurant, I had a conversation with a server. “You Americans just don’t know what we went through under this white so-called free society,” he said. “We lost so many loved ones in the gold and diamond mines or they just disappeared.” It reminds me now of what we have been going through recently here in our America, with blacks being murdered in the streets and what we have gone through in the past. He went on, “We South African people struggled too long and gave up so much, we never want to go back there again.” I said that African Americans fought as well and marched for the right to vote. I mentioned folks like Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, too many to mention, really, but I would be remiss not to mention John Lewis who almost died fighting for the right to vote.
The first election in South Africa was held in 1992 and resulted in the election of the COUNTRY’s first African man for their president, Nelson Mandela. (For us, our first black president came 16 years later, Nov 4, 2008.) During my visit in 1999, it was time once again for the South Africans to show the world how important it was to hold on to their gains. We are now at that same juncture we—African Americans—must hold onto our gains, our voting rights, as we fight for the soul of our nation. We must put our energy and excitement behind the first Black, woman Vice-President on the ticket, Kamala Harris.
No matter how difficult it was for South African people to participate, they registered, voted and elected Mandela, South Africa’s President. While John Lewis in America was willing to die on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Mandela, who under the daily threat of death, served for 27 years in Pollsmoor prison and alternately on Ronnin island. Both knew that democracy could be guaranteed only by the vote.
I want to make clear that it was not at all easy for South Africans to vote. In March of that year when Thabo Mbeki was elected, the South African voters walked 20 or more miles to a polling station, far from their villages. They stood in long queues for hours just to register to vote.
Then they had to repeat this exercise again to vote on June 3. These courageous and determined voters would once again walk to the polling stations. Women started walking at 5 a.m. with babies strapped to their backs, stopping only to breast feed. The following appeared in the June 3, 1999 issue of The Star: “South Africans take elections seriously, evidenced by the long queues formed outside polling stations.
“South Africans queued patiently at schools, churches, and other voting stations. A different category of voters also queued, away from public gaze to cast their votes. A total of 21,600 prisoners from the national prison population of 150,000, those awaiting trial and sentenced prisoners had registered to vote! Thousands exercised their right.”
Yes! It was time to vote and the excitement in the air was everywhere. Throughout my trip, it had become clear that no apathy existed in South Africa, not even among children. The people there had come so far in so many ways including education. Although the children there start school when they are six, our tour guide was only five years old and spoke six languages! Even he did not stop talking about the election and made even me want to vote!
The energy generated by everyone, who never stopped talking about the vote, attested to how far they had come and what they had gained there in education, housing. They had fought too hard and too long, just like African Americans, fighting for our nation’s soul and the continuity of our treasured right to vote.
About the author
Dr. Catherine Fisher Collins is an author with a distinguished career in a variety of positions including: Adjunct Professor at Niagara University Graduate School of Education; ongoing host of Women’s Health radio show; former Associate Professor SUNY Empire State College; and ,is an elected member of the New York State Board of Regents which makes policy decisions for all of the activities of the New York State Education Department and the University of the State of New York. In her role as Regent, Dr. Collins is serving her second five-year term and represents the 8th Judicial District which includes Buffalo and all of Western New York State.
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