……….Before embarking on their adventure, the kids--who were joined by two young people from Washington, D.C., and accompanied by adult mentors--studied the sociopolitical history of South Africa, including apartheid. All were Latino or African American or a mix of the two, and were encouraged to think about their own identity, their own experiences with racism.
……….At the conference exhibit hall, the L.A. kids mounted a photo exhibition showing the underbelly of America. There were bleak images of life on an Indian reservation, of the homeless in Los Angeles. It was an eye-opener to some South Africans, who thought everyone in America was rich. "They were absolutely shocked," said Lynn Warshafsky, executive director of Venice Arts Mecca. In turn, the L.A. group was surprised at the degree of anti-American sentiment, something they had to process. "They had to ask themselves questions they'd never asked before" about how others see them, Warshafsky said.
…..For Delisa Alejandra, 13, the most abiding memory of the trip was a visit to an open market and "how they chopped up (livestock)in front of everybody." Delisa was amused when people "asked us what we were. They didn't know we were Mexican. They were like, 'What?' and surprised to learn (we)were not Black."
For Eamon, the highlight was hearing Fidel Castro speak. "I had thought of him as seriously evil. I realized he's not evil, he's doing what he thinks is best. He has this sort of demeanor about him. Whether you like him or not, you respect him. It opened my eyes."
Security was tight at the conference site--lots of barbed wire and soldiers with assault rifles and machine guns. Michael remembers "when the riot control people let us into their armored vehicle. It was kind of cool. They were really nice." He recalls, too, being caught up in a heated argument that broke out among a Palestinian, a Hasidic rabbi and a Holocaust survivor from Israel. *** Eyes Wide Open