Hi! My name is Jane Marrazzo and I’m a graduate student in the Goizueta Business School. I am honored to be a part of the 2018 Journeys of Reconciliation: South Africa. It’s hard to believe that the Journeys trip is actually here. For many members of our group the pre-trip planning started as far back as November when we submitted our applications. Over the course of the following six months, we have routinely met to learn more about South Africa and its complex history. One of our starting points was to read Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. The book served as a starting point to understanding South Africa’s painful past; however, once I started doing research, I couldn’t stop. I have watched documentaries, listened to YouTube audio lectures, read online content- all in pursuit to understand how the apartheid laws were ever developed and rationalized. Two thoughts that have plagued me have been 1. How was the apartheid justified by whites for so long and by so many? 2. How/where did the change in governments fail in its altruistic attempt to build a better, safer, more equal South Africa envisioned by ANC leaders during the Struggle? These are not easy questions to answer.
As we search of these and other answers to difficult questions, I’m reminded by an excerpt from Mandela’s book…
“ ‘Ndiwelimilambo enamagama – I have crossed famous rivers.’ It means that one has travelled and, in the process, gained much experience… We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road.”
Jane Marrazzo is a rising second year in the full time two year MBA program at Goizueta Business School. A dual citizen of Venezuela and the United States, Jane is eager to pursue a career in marketing and brand management that inspires diverse people, cultures, and perspectives.
~Emory~OSRL~ 