Prison, Freedom, and Redemption

The day started somber - grey, cold, and wet. It set the perfect tone for what would be a tour of a troubling place. We were about to experience Robben Island, South Africa’s prison hailed as a hell for political prisoners during the apartheid regime. Some say it is the South African version of Alcatraz and they are correct to an extent. Little did we know how much of an impact that 5-square kilometer island would have on us.

Sailing from Cape Town to the notorious prison was almost a step back in time. We were aboard the Dias, which was a vessel prisoners were once loaded onto, 22 at a time, and taken to the island prison. The hour-long ride was the last bit of freedom these men experienced for years, and even decades. The sight of steel doors and concrete walls slowly replaced the sight of waves and seagulls. Our tour guide was once a Robben Island prisoner himself; he gave us his personal experience from his own hell, it was an insight that cannot be taught to any tour guide. Seeing the inch-thick cotton mats used as beds, prisoner identification cards printed in Afrikaans, and the 8’X 8’ cells, was surreal. We were in a place where people were held until death for something as simple as voicing an unpopular opinion, something we now do daily, as Americans. However, it is also important to remember that all Americans did not always have the same rights. Robben Island is a reminder of how freedoms can be lost, and that it can happen anywhere. It happened in South Africa; it happened in the United States. And that should never be forgotten.

At Robben Island’s cellblock B, we saw the actual cell where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years. Two blankets folded neatly in the corner next to a steel bowl shared the cell with him. Madiba and his cellblock mates walked the long hallway of concrete and bright lights twice a day. If those walls could talk, they would tell stories of hope and freedom through voices of pain. The experience those men must have had makes one wonder how Madiba came out without an ounce of hatred to the government that took so much from him. Perhaps perspectives like this can explain that:

“While we will not forget the brutality of apartheid, we will not want Robben Island to be a monument for our hardship and suffering.

We would want it to be a triumph of the human spirit against the forces of evil. A triumph of wisdom and largeness of spirit against small minds and pettiness. A triumph of courage and determination over human frailty and weakness.”

-Ahmed Kathrada, 1993