I always chuckle with I see this photo of me and Nelson Mandela. The photo was taken as a souvenir for tourists when they get off the cable car at Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. The photo is fake but my deep admiration for Mandela is real. The passing of this great leader pushed me to visit my photo album of my 2001 South Africa visit and the memories always come rushing back–the visit to Mandela’s cell at Robbin Island, the warmth of the South African people, talking with children on the schoolyard, the political discussions in the coffee houses, the hustle of Johannesburg, the dance of the Zula warriors…I reflected on all the work I was a part of during the anti-apartheid movement and felt like a citizen in this new country. I had done my small part of bring the racist regime down but as my eyes confirmed, the dreams of the black masses remain unfulfilled. Amandla awetu! The power shall be ours!
How Republicans lost the map battle
You may know that the 2022 Missouri map will be used for the Nov. 3 election. What you should also know is how the state’s top Republican lawmakers conspired against the voters’ wishes and their constitutional rights. Since the last federal election, nine states have redrawn their congressional maps. Trump and his MAGA cronies had hoped Missouri would be the tenth in a perverted effort to reshape congressional districts to rig the midterm election.
