SA Rocks

A few days ago I posted about a Million-Man March that Desmond Dube is trying to organise. I think the idea is an important one and a potential mind-shifting, nation-building one. I’ll explain why just now.

But some disagree with me in every respect. I had this debate last night with my girlfriend and it became fairly heated. Then Karin commented on the original post today and I thought that it warranted my response.

So here goes.

I am a fan of marching when the cause is something close to my heart or worthy of a fight. I see marches as a massive and relatively quiet version of a brawl. People march because they can’t brawl with an issue. Like crime, we cannot and should not become fighters in the sense of murderers and revenge-seekers, that would not end well. So we march and protest and show our feelings.

Let me take you back. In 2005 I went overseas to do some freelance photography. I went to the G8 summit in Edinburgh. I think it was close on 250 000 people marched to lower the deficit of third world debt. And it worked. the G8 leaders came out of their conference and had made their decision. Some debt was lowered or written off (correct me if I’m wrong here please!). But it worked.

Ghandi protested, Mother Theresa lead her protests through her action and many more. Let’s look at the Million Man March held in the USA in 1995. This was the outcome:

“According to voter registration statistics, one and a half million black men registered to vote in the months following the March, leading David Bositis of the Joint Center for Economic Studies to remark, “In reviewing the sharp increase in the black male vote, I might find it highly implausible that there was another factor that rivaled the Million Man March in bringing about this change.”

And this was their goal: “The event included efforts to register African Americans to vote in US Elections and increase black involvement in volunteerism and community activism.”

Mission accomplished there too.

But the argument here in SA and the one that Karin put across is this, and I quote Karin:

Been there, done that! So what have these marches accomplished except public hooliganism and more offending? Did they ever after a march implement tougher measures or change legislation? Why don’t people start changing in their own backyard by fighting crime in their own communities and working TOGETHER to put measures in place that will change their circumstances there where they live? Be pro-active in your environment with local authorities input? Why wait for “government”?

So let me ask you this: Is marching not the start, the beginning, the recognition of a unified problem that is bringing people together and forcing them to join hands and walk beside one another? Is this not the case? Do all marches end in hooliganism? I don’t think so.

Why don’t people start working together to put measures in place that will change things? This is the start of that, is it not? Is it not a unified sense of discomfort that can bring about a unified solution to a problem? The people who will march (me being one of them) are not waiting for government to organise a march, they are organising it. And they will march and I will join them.

When I started SA Rocks a year ago I did it because I firmly believed that there was a mind-shift-change taking place. One from negativity to POSITIVE ACTION. That is where we are. No one said this march would be about violence, anger, oppression, hooliganism and by implying this you are expecting and willing it to be so.

One million people. Take a second to stop and think about that. Have you ever seen one million people in one place? I’ve seen close to 300 000 people in one place at one time and it was moving. Imagine the sense of belonging and unity that people will feel, imagine the shift in consciousness that will take place. One million minds sharing a common goal and unified purpose, that is life changing and solution-starting right there.

If nothing more comes of this than people feeling like they are OK and they will be OK then I think the march will have achieved a greater purpose than anything else has in this country of late.

I spent about an hour looking for graphic representation of one million people. Have a look:

And finally, a million people is the population of East Timor and Swaziland respectively. That is a lot of people!!

Popularity: 9% [?]

On the front page of The Times today there is an article calling for people to march against crime.

It’s happened before and will happen again but I still always feel the urge to get involved and call people to action.

“I’ll organise the celebrities. We’ll lead the march if needs be, but we need the ordinary people to join us. Let’s do it. Let’s get a million people to tell the government that we’ve had enough.”

This is what Desmond Dube had to say regarding the movement. “Now is the time to organise a million-man march on Pretoria – To let the people responsible know how we feel, to make the accountable.”

I couldn’t agree more and if it takes a celebrity leadership to do it, SA Rocks is right behind them.

As you can see in the top left of the new site design there is a motto, “Positive Action”. This is what I have decided mould SA Rocks in to, Positive Action.

I think it’s time we took some action, make it positive and let the government know that we are unhappy and not leaving, we are going to stay and fight for what we love. fl

Popularity: 6% [?]