Iziko Slave Lodge and Cape Town Memorial to Nelson Mandela

This morning, I visited the Iziko Slave Lodge, which captures the history of slavery in South Africa. It was a sobering memorial to past slaves whose basic human rights were so harshly oppressed. This quote from the museum perhaps states it best, honoring the slaves:

"We are because of them, and carry their legacy with pride."

One memorial plaque reminds us that, "powerful global economies throughout history have made profits and accumulated wealth through the slave trade."

In beautiful contrast to the slave museum, my next stop was the Cape Town Memorial to Nelson Mandela, currently hosted here in the Cape Town Civic Center. It is a beautiful tribute to Mandela. I will post photos soon. What was most striking was these two Mandela quotes:

"To deny people their human rights it to challenge their very humanity."

"One of the most difficult things is not to change society - but to change yourself."

May we learn from history, and may Mandela's legacy live on. His spirit is very much here, in Cape Town.