Ms Gillian Blackshaw
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Ms Blackshaw with Ms Lovelyn Nwadeyi
If I had to choose one word to describe this year, it would be the word “loss”. We have all experienced loss in some way, whether it was the loss of connection with family and friends during lockdown, the loss of important events in a Matric year, the loss of income or simply just the loss of ‘normal’ life.
The Black Lives Matter movement during lockdown allowed many of our learners time to reflect on their experiences at Rustenburg. The result was a protest by our Matric learners accompanied by their call to end institutional racism and for all members of our school community to commit to anti-racism. I thank the Matrics for taking a stand, as their action pushed the staff to commit to and speed up the transformation work we have been doing over the last few years. We have started working with Ms Lovelyn Nwadeyi of L&N Advisors and will continue to do so into 2021. Staff study sessions started in August and covered topics such as positionality, normative culture, microaggressions, anti-racism, white fragility, intersectionality, misogynoir and adultification, to name just a few.
THE MATRIC MEMORANDUM In June, sparked by a photograph posted on Rustenburg’s social media accounts of some Matric learners supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, the Matric class of 2020 staged a protest on the Main Quad. Khadeeja Allie-Ebrahim, Zipho Tom and Iviwe Yeki, on behalf of the Matrics, handed over a memorandum to Mr Gates, Ms Schnetler and Ms Blackshaw.
My heart goes out to those in our school community who are grieving the loss of loved ones and struggling with the loss of employment. This hasn’t been an easy year and I can’t imagine anyone would reflect on 2020 without a sense of loss or experience of grief of some sort.
I am hopeful that the work the staff have committed to do will transform Rustenburg into a place where every individual feels valued and accepted. However, we can’t do this alone. All members of our school community pupils, parents, guardians, past pupils and staff - have the social responsibility to inform and educate themselves. While we will continue to provide these opportunities for engagement, education and growth for members of the school community, each individual is ultimately accountable for their own development and I urge you to play your part.
Khadeeja explains the state of mind of the Matric learners leading up to the memorandum: “In Term 1, there were Dialogue Days to discuss racism, its history, white privilege, colourism, reverse racism and other issues relating to race. While these conversations are essential for change, they can often be mentally taxing on BPOC (Black People of Colour) and POC (People of Colour) who are constantly expected to have all the answers i.e. the solution to racism.
Lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic have stripped us of many things and, in so doing, have brought many realities to the fore and amplified them. Inequality in South Africa has never been so apparent - this was clearly evident in our schools. Privileged schools like Rustenburg managed to ensure education and learning continued while other schools were essentially closed for the better part of the year.
Dialogue Day
Rustenburg was able to hold one Dialogue Day before COVID-19 hit and large gatherings were no longer permitted. The theme for Term 1 was race and racism in our schools and society.
On 20 February Khadeeja Allie-Ebrahim, Jenna Dugmore, Zipho Tom, all Grade 12 learners, led an assembly period where they taught the school all about the history of racism and systemic oppression. They used case studies, images and compelling storytelling to show the school just how far back systemic racism goes. On 24 February the whole school was involved in a Dialogue Day session which followed on from the assembly period. Each class and their facilitators discussed a series of statements on race, privilege, and the importance of talking about these issues.
The terminology surrounding racism was revised, and race as a social construct was discussed. The learners heard about privilege, and white privilege. As a case study of institutionalised racism in practice, a video about the famous Doll Test was shown. The video shows the impact of internalised oppression on children, and provoked much interest and debate amongst the learners. Next, the classes had a look at in what ways racism is still an issue in South African schools, and shared some of their own stories. On 5 March, a further follow-up session was held where each class was given the opportunity to listen to stories of how racism has affected the lives of members of our school community, from learners to teachers to ground and support staff. The learners were then given a chance in the session to share their own experiences. The session concluded with the learners looking into the future, and trying to identify what they as individuals can do to make changes in their communities, and to work actively against racism.
Lockdown played such an important role in helping us heal. It was a time where we were wholeheartedly immersed in our cultures and could be ourselves candidly. It was a time when we didn’t have to change our accents or worry about correcting people who mispronounced our names. Coming back to school was difficult for everyone. Coming back to school as a BPOC and POC after the murders of George Floyd, Collins Khosa and many others, as well as the emotions evoked by the #blacklivesmatter movement was even more challenging.” Soon after their return to school, on 3 June, the Grade 12s dressed in black to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. The subsequent post on Instagram and Facebook, with the photograph taken in the quad, angered both past and present pupils. The comments on the post spoke of the experiences of racism at the school, and therefore the hypocrisy of the photograph and its message. In the weeks that followed, various meetings were held to discuss the feelings of the present and past pupils. These meetings included Mr Gates, Ms Schnetler, Ms Blackshaw, members of the Transformation Team, counsellors, the prefects, the RCL, past pupils and Matrics. These events are what led to the Matric protest on 10 June. The memorandum that was handed over included a list of demands and testimonials about staff members who they felt had caused hurt with their actions, racist remarks or micro-aggressions. As Khadeeja explains, “The goal of the
memorandum was for BPOC and POC to no longer feel othered at Rustenburg.” Further discussions were held and Ms Lovelyn Nwadeyi of L&N Advisors was consulted. She held various meetings with members of the Management Team and also with a number of Matric representatives. Mr Gates, along with various members of the Transformation Team, met with the teachers who were named in the testimonials to discuss what was said, and how to address these experiences of hurt. On 24 June feedback on the memorandum was given to all the Matrics. As the other grades began to return to school after lockdown, debriefing sessions were held with each class. These sessions included engagement on their lockdown experiences, the Black Lives Matter movement as well as what had happened at school. Since then, there have been many discussions on the way forward, and L&N advisors have been working closely with the school to put a programme in place to help the school achieve its goal of being anti-racist. In August all staff attended a two-day Racial Literacy study group session and some members of Management began their Brave Spaces course (based on the book White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo) which took place over a number of weeks. An online parent engagement meeting to discuss the steps taken since the Grade 12 call to action, and to invite parent feedback regarding transformation at Rustenburg, was facilitated by Ms Nwadeyi on 16 September. As part of the school’s commitment to anti-racism, Ms Nwadeyi will continue to work with the staff, learners, parents and greater school community over the coming months. These final words also come from Khadeeja: “Change cannot happen overnight. True progress will come with transforming mindsets, but this is something that takes time and patience. In order to combat racism, you need to acknowledge your implicit (and explicit) biases. In order to fix a problem, you need to know that it’s there. Systemic racism often embodies itself within microaggressions. While some of these aggressions are easy to explain and point out to white people, many of them are difficult to put into words because they are feelings of exclusion. It is nearly impossible to describe these feelings to people who will never experience them. Each matric year leaves something behind. We want E20 to be remembered for something more than a drinking fountain or a bench. We want to be remembered for our zeal in the fight against racism. We want future learners to attend a racism-free school.”
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Black Lives Matter Movement
PASTORAL
Deputy Principal (Pastoral)
Reflections on the
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Reflections from the
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