Cecil Rhodes

There probably isn't a more controversial name on the Africa contient than that of Cecil John Rhodes. When visiting his imposing granite memorial scraped into the south west waistline of Devi's Peak, I compare his history to that of present-day Africa. It's a history the continent is not very fond of; a sorespot on the landscape across the Southern African nations. Rhodes believed the Anglo Saxon race to be superior - not exactly politically correct in this part of the world these days. The empire he built darkly hangs over the Republic yet ironically has contributed to the growth of the economy here. I think that must be the hardest issue for Africa to reconcile here and in America. To rise about centuries of oppression while not remaining bitter and angry. Like Mandela in jail all those years, every African must come to terms with the past in order to move forward.

Photos; Cecil John Rhodes Memorial, Devil's Peak near Table Mountain in Cape Town.