THE (MY) SOUTH AFRICAN DREAM :

THE SOUTH AFRICAN DREAM :
LONG WALK TO FREEDOM AND PEACE: THE "BRIDGE-BUILDER, THE RECONCILIATOR"

Tags (key words): South Africa, dream, dreams, my young dream, 'Long Walk to Freedom and Peace', Craig Lock, hope, New books, soccer,
Web sites: http://sawriter.wordpress.com and http://longwalktopeace.wordpress.com/

Here is a short extract from 'Long Walk to Freedom and Peace' that craig is currently writing (or perhaps "it's writing itself")...

I don’t know how the story will end…

But I do know how it all began…

For Lynda and Sharon in “Joey’s”, and Steve, Glenda, Paula , Dylan and Graham in the beautiful mother city of Cape Town. Also to dearest mom and dad. Thanks for all the support, encouragement and most of all, love.
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PROLOGUE

THE DREAM
It was a cold dreary mid-winter evening in 1975, a year before the Soweto riots that started a great upheaval in the "beloved" country.

The young man was very excited as he caught the bus to the soccer ground in Observatory to see a historic football match between the Greek-based side Hellenic (from the other side of the beautiful mother city) and the black team from Soweto outside Johannesburg (Egoli, the city of gold). Watching his team Cape Town City play at Hartleyvale was his usual Friday night entertainment during the long rainy winter at the Southern tip of the vast “dark” continent.

Even though it was a friendly soccer match , this was to be the first time a black team had played against a white team in the racially divided and rigidly repressed country. The game went off without incident; in spite of prior apprehension by many and was played in a great spirit. The young man marvelled at the exceptional ball skills displayed by the black players, their creativity, flair and finesse; but he also greatly valued the discipline in defence, self control and the stategic and tactical 'nous' of the white players in the opposing teams. It was a great contrast in styles, yet both added greatly to the spectacle through different and yet diverse sets of skills. It was as if the whole was greater than the whole.

Though relaxed, that night the blonde-haired man had difficulty getting to sleep ... as the thoughts kept swirling around in his head. It hadn't mattered who had won the game (though he thinks it may have been a draw). And these thoughts began to germinate in the days following. He always expressed himself far better in writing than the spoken word, so the next day he "penned" a letter to his beautiful girlfriend with the jet-black hair, Lynda ... in which he shared a vision of the future...of what his "beloved" country could perhaps one day become through encompassing the best of both white and black cultures.
Sport for unity… as a tool in advancement for equality and freedom.

And a celebration of diversity... two worlds in one country…and one at peace with itself…at long last!

That was the young man's dream in the dark days of the year nineteen seventy five

And that night as he lay in bed, "young whitey" recalled the words of former US senator, Robert Kennedy who had visited South Africa about eight years earlier:
“ Look at things not as they are, but what can they can perhaps one day become"
Then he fell into a deep sleep, peacefully, blissfully...
*
"Few (of us) will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man (or woman) stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, (she or) he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
— the powerful and greatly inspiring words of Robert F. Kennedy (with my little insertions in brackets)

"In the midst of darkness, light exists"
from http://sawriter.wordpress.com and http://longwalktopeace.wordpress.com/

PPS
My vision is of a free democratic South Africa… at long last. Then the country will fulfil its great potential, internally and internationally, as well as in Africa
Never ever give up on your dreams. Sometimes they and fairy-tales DO come true!

that last vision was written in the very dark days of June in the year 1989