Week 7: Peer Review

Last week we decided to review some of the articles and findings our peers had made regarding South Africa and its connection to our trip. Having read a few blogs and articles, these were the ones that stood out to me the most:

Sarah Fisher provided an interesting report written by Jeremy Seekings of the the University of Cape Town called, Poverty and Inequality After Apartheid. The report - as the name implies - focuses on poverty after the apartheid movement and how it has come to change since. Seekings writes about how the ANC's (African National Congress) main priority as a newly formed democratic government was to "(attack) poverty and depravation," but that it has not done so and thus the apartheid continues. Seeking mentions that although there has been "change" in the economy, the black population is still poor, while the white minority is far more affluent, and that the separation between the two races continues to grow, not by color, but instead by economic deprivation and the lack of opportunities.

http://www.sarpn.org/documents/d0003024/Poverty_inequality_Seekings_Sep2007.pdf

Joshua Alvarez's Power and Privilege Definitions was very interesting to read. The set of notes defines terms that we hear and come to face in our everyday lives in a very descriptive manner. Many of the definitions included in the notes I may have not been able to define myself, while others gave me a complete new insight on the meaning and origin of the word. "Race," for example, is something I find very difficult to understand and even more to explain, but the definition given here is pretty accurate to what I believe race is. This is something definitely worth reading.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3BZMDcUdJzzME9KdDVMemYxU2M/view?usp=sharing

The last set of info that I reviewed was Connie Garza's link to a short documentary called South Africa's Post Apartheid Generation. The documentary focused on the young generation in South Africa, the population that had was born after the apartheid, or born "free" as the video implies. It was interesting to hear what these people had to say about the country during and after the apartheid. Many realize the hardships and struggles that their parents faced as an attempt to bring a better life for them, but believe that the government has failed to comply with the needs of the black majority despite the institution of democracy. With this in mind, many refuse to participate in government, and claim that their lives and futures depend on themselves - not on the government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elrWczhTZBk