SLJ Week 2 Day 2 : Taking Action

Activity 1: A Long Walk to Freedom [4 points]

Nelson Mandela was an activist and civil rights leader who was born and raised in South Africa. For over 40 years (1948-1991), the country of South Africa had a political system called ‘apartheid’. This meant that there were different rules for people who had white skin than for those who didn’t. Nelson Mandela felt that this was very wrong and he fought for many years to change the law. Eventually he became the President of South Africa and ended apartheid, but not before spending 27 years in prison.

In Robben Island prison (where Mandela spent 18 years), life was very tough. Mandela had a tiny, damp, concrete cell, with only a straw mat to sleep on. During the day he was forced to work in a quarry, breaking rocks into gravel. He was only allowed to see one visitor and receive one letter every six months. At night, Nelson read and studied to be a lawyer.

For this activity, please imagine that you are Mr Mandela and that you are living at Robben Island prison. You have been given a journal and each night you write in it.

On your blog, write a journal entry imagining that you are Mr Mandela. What do you think he did each day? How did he feel? Include as much detail as you can in the journal entry.

Dear Journal 

1973 July 17 . It is very cold and uncomfortable. The only food I get is one cup a rice. I have sneaked lot of books so I can get free and become a lawyer. The work is very hard and tough. I haven't had a shower in 3 months. The only way I have made it so far is cause of all of the letters my family and friends have sent. During work I always sing Shosholoza to motivate the workers to help us move faster. 

The End 

Activity 2: School Strike for Climate [4 points]

You may have heard people talking about an issue called ‘Climate change’. Climate change refers to an increase in the temperature of our planet. Warmer temperatures can cause natural disasters (floods, storms, droughts, bushfires, hurricanes, etc), rising sea levels, and the extinction (disappearance) of plants and animals.

Many people in New Zealand (and overseas) are worried about climate change, including Greta Thunberg, a 16 year old girl from Sweden. She believes that climate change is not only real, but that it is a “crisis”. She is upset that adults, particularly governments and powerful people, are not taking climate change seriously. In 2018 she began protesting outside the Swedish government buildings every Friday instead of going to school. She inspired the School Strike for Climate protests and, in 2019, spoke to the United Nations about her concerns. Not everyone, however, is convinced that climate change is really happening.

For this activity, we would like you to explore the School Strike for Climate Australia website.

On your blog, list three facts (things) that you learned.

The information that I just read is about School Strike for Climate Australia. School Strike for Climate Australia is an international movement of school students who take time off from class to participate in demonstrations to demand action to prevent further global warming and climate change. 

They want no new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani mine.

• They want 100% renewable energy generation & exports by 2030
• Fund a just transition & job creation for all fossil-fuel workers & communities.

Im sorry but I don't have a photo of what I'm doing. But I am picking up rubbish around my neighborhood to stop causing pollution.

Activity 3: “I Have a Dream” [6 points]

Martin Luther King Jr was a Christian minister in the United States of America (USA) in the 1950s and 1960s. He spent much of his life fighting for equality (equal rights) for people of colour. At the time, there were laws that kept black and white people separated - they went to different schools, used different toilets, and even sat in different parts of a bus and ate in different areas of a restaurant. This was called ‘segregation.’

Dr King did not agree with these laws and he led many protests against them. He was joined in his protests by many people, including an African American woman named Rosa Parks. In 1955, Rosa boarded a bus in Alabama (USA) and when the bus filled up with people, she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. You can read about this famous incident here and watch a video about Rosa Parks here.

The brave actions of people like Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks were instrumental in changing the way that African Americans (people of colour) were treated in the United States.

For this activity, please consider the problem that black men and women faced in America at this time.

On your blog, describe the problem. What did Rosa Parks do about the problem? How did other people react?

Black men and women had a very huge problem back in the 50s. The problem was racism. Back in the 50s, white men and women would always make fun and would always make racial slurs to Black people. White people didn't like black people coz of their skin colour. If you were black they would always assume you were up to no good. But one person changed that all.  Rosa Parks was a civil rights leader whose refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Her bravery led to nationwide efforts to end racial segregation. Parks was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr.