Daniella's lessons from the people she met

The best guest speakers ever...

meeting new people is always an honor and a privilege. I am extremely thankful that we were able to meet so many influential individuals in Cape Town. Lucy Campbell being of those individuals. Her presentation at the Slave Lodge was presented in a way that I was able to grasp all the information. I loved her teaching style of actually presenting tangible items that represented an event or concept of that time. She had a tool box of different objects that represented the things that coloreds and blacks were oppressed by; such as hair, wine, and skin color. Hair was a way for the whites to determine the race of the others. They had something called the pencil test, which was when they placed a pencil in your hair and if it got stuck then you were classified "African" and not white, coloured, or Indian. On the other hand if the pencil fell out of your hair then they would classify you coloured. But that wasn't always the case. They also had other requirements and tests before you were actually considered to be white. 

Lucy also explained how alcohol was given to the coloreds and Africans to basically keep some kind of control over them; this was also the same with cigarettes. It was as if they paid them off with these potentially harmful substances, which I have noticed that till this day they are still playing a big role in their lives. Then the most obvious issue discussed was the color of your skin. This was the easiest way to determine your race in most cases. I truly enjoyed that day with Lucy. 

It wouldn't be right if I did not mention Tony. Besides his guitar playing and singing, his life story was actually pretty interesting and on topic. It was nice to actually hear about the events that took place by someone that was in the midst of it all. Getting the point of view from someone classified coloured but appeared to be white. He answered questions that I wanted answers to such as how has the apartheid affected his life now. He explained how he was condition and how he still is to this day; which was probably the most valuable information I got from him. 

Our other guest speakers included Vincent and Joe. Vincent who every Thursday gave a wonderful informative lessons on the history and politics of South Africa. I actually believe I learned the most from him then any of the museum tours. He provided us with the main and most important information relevant to South Africa. All these speakers had their own methods of teaching and I must say that I value their efforts to teach us about their personal lives and the country.