Big stories, little stories, all need to be told
Friday, 13. November 2009, 06:05:51
The establishment of a repository for documents and other artifacts of the anti-conscription struggle in South Africa is a great idea.
The recent ECC25 event brought an avalanche of memories back, many as vivid as the day these distant events occurred. Some had not been revisited in literally decades of getting on with the more mundane issues of getting our lives together, marriage, children, careers, homes and hobbies. But one that particular sticks out is the way I felt after three of us presented evidence to the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) on the vicious state-community confrontation over KTC.
Ours was simply the report of health workers working on the ground during those weeks of conflict and tragedy, and we were not directly injured, or deprived of our houses as many were. But, telling the story in a public forum was an amazing, and very surprising experience. It felt like one more piece of the big puzzle that was apartheid had now been laid bare. The sensation was that of a large weight being lifted from my shoulders, a sense of liberation from the intensity and horror of the past. Revisiting those historical events and laying them out for the world (and myself) to see/read and reflect was a cathartic experience that left me more able to move on.
It was clear from watching the TRC reports and hearings that for many this was an essential step on the path to healing however it was also apparent that the TRC mostly processed the "big events", that is, the detentions, the tortures, the disappearances, the removals, assassinations and other indescribable apartheid era horror stories. And these had to be told, victims and oppressors all needed to pass through this unique encounter to obtain some kind of peace.
Somewhere along the line the "little stories" from that time got lost. I was left with the impression that somewhere out there millions of untold stories were confined to dinner table chat, cautionary tales to tell your children, or words, permanently locked inside the minds of ordinary people, some replayed at unexpected moments, some buried in our subconscious forever, but central to defining who we are and what we do years later.
These stories need to be told. For history, for personal catharsis, for the recognition and insight it can provide about who we are.
The recent ECC25 event brought an avalanche of memories back, many as vivid as the day these distant events occurred. Some had not been revisited in literally decades of getting on with the more mundane issues of getting our lives together, marriage, children, careers, homes and hobbies. But one that particular sticks out is the way I felt after three of us presented evidence to the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) on the vicious state-community confrontation over KTC.
Ours was simply the report of health workers working on the ground during those weeks of conflict and tragedy, and we were not directly injured, or deprived of our houses as many were. But, telling the story in a public forum was an amazing, and very surprising experience. It felt like one more piece of the big puzzle that was apartheid had now been laid bare. The sensation was that of a large weight being lifted from my shoulders, a sense of liberation from the intensity and horror of the past. Revisiting those historical events and laying them out for the world (and myself) to see/read and reflect was a cathartic experience that left me more able to move on.
It was clear from watching the TRC reports and hearings that for many this was an essential step on the path to healing however it was also apparent that the TRC mostly processed the "big events", that is, the detentions, the tortures, the disappearances, the removals, assassinations and other indescribable apartheid era horror stories. And these had to be told, victims and oppressors all needed to pass through this unique encounter to obtain some kind of peace.
Somewhere along the line the "little stories" from that time got lost. I was left with the impression that somewhere out there millions of untold stories were confined to dinner table chat, cautionary tales to tell your children, or words, permanently locked inside the minds of ordinary people, some replayed at unexpected moments, some buried in our subconscious forever, but central to defining who we are and what we do years later.
These stories need to be told. For history, for personal catharsis, for the recognition and insight it can provide about who we are.
WIDGETIZE