It's not conscious-cool or particularly hippie fashoinable. A moth-holed, cotton-grade, yellow t-shirt with the words "FREE MANDELA" emblazoned in yellow and green on the front. Today, that top wouldn't draw too much attention . Since Obama, politics have become their own brand of pop culture, but some years ago, it would've resulted in a few kicks from an industrial boot to the face, broken ribs , and an overnight booking for a cell in John Vorster square. This is exactly what happenened to my dad, thirty-odd years ago. He should have known what the most likely result would've been though. Post '76, the cops were less tolerant of the 'insolent' Soweto youths, and any disagreeable action could land you hospital, jail or in the back of a Black Maria(morgue van). An exact replica of the T-shirt hangs on a lonely wall at the Apartheid Museum, and it struck, upon looking at it, how relevant the top still is today.
Please excuse this half-baked notion but it seems that Nelson Mandela, who was released from jail in 1990, is still very much in captivity. From Mandla Mandela, a grandchild who allegedly sold the film and tv rights to his funeral; to the ANC that strategically hauls him out at moments convenient, its saddening that the Ninety-two old icon, having spent the bigger portion of his life fighting inequality and injustice is going to spend the rest of it as a money-making figure-head that is manipulated and abused by his family , his nation and the ANC. The freedoms for which fought are now the chains that bind him. Isn't it ironic?
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