Ithaca College

Two young leaders from South Africa's Shack Dwellers' Movement will lead discussions on housing and human rights and screen the award-winning documentary Dear Mandela at Ithaca College on October 2 in Textor 102 at 7pm.

Dear Mandela is the real-life account of three young adults from South Africa as they journey from the slums to high court in their pursuit of justice and change. The film is an exposition of the struggle of the Shack Dwellers to stand up for their rights in post-Apartheid South Africa.

The protagonists of this film were forced to leave their homes when the government promised to clear the slums of Durban, South Africa’s third largest city. This film follows these spirited young activists as they fight to stand up for their rights in the highest court in South Africa and become leaders in a growing social movement.  

Dear Mandela, an inspiring, devastating, and at times comical account of their journey, has won awards in South Africa, the United States and the Netherlands.

Zodwa Nsibande and Mnikelo Ndabankulu, two protagonists of the film, and Dara Kell, the filmmaker, will be present at the screening and available for discussion after the viewing.

Another free public screening of Dear Mandela followed by Q&A will be held Monday, October 1 at 7 pm in the Multipurpose Room of the Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University.

On Wednesday, October 3 at 6 pm, an informal conversation about strategies, story-telling, and community leadership will be held at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC), 301 W. Court Street with Nsibande and Ndabankulu.

Co-sponsors for the week of events are:  Engaged Learning and Research (Cornell), Cornell Student Assembly Finance Commission, The Dorothy Cotton Institute, The Natural Leaders Initiative, Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC), Committee on US-Latin American Relations (CUSLAR), Ithaca College Departments of Sociology, Anthropology, and Environmental Studies and Sciences, the H&S Dean's Office and the IC School of Humanities and Sciences Educational Grant Initiative, the Park Center for Independent Media, TC3 Cinema Club, IC Human Rights, and STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation should contact Lyndsey Lyman at llyman1@ithaca.edu, or call 607-341-1054 as much in advance of the event as possible.