Tag: Johannesburg

To Mama Graça Machel, members of the Mandela family, the Machel family, to President Ramaphosa who you can see is inspiring new hope in this great country -- (cheers and applause) -- professor, doctor, distinguished guests, to Mama Sisulu and the Sisulu family, to the people of South Africa -- (cheers and applause) -- it is a singular honor for me to be here with all of you as we gather to celebrate the birth and life of one of history's true giants. One hundred years ago, Madiba was born in the village of M -- oh, see there, I always get that -- (laughter) -- I got to get my Ms right when I'm in South Africa. And even in my own country, even in democracies like the United States, founded on a declaration that all men are created equal, racial segregation and systemic discrimination was the law in almost half the country and the norm throughout the rest of the country. And while globalization and technology have opened up new opportunities, have driven remarkable economic growth in previously struggling parts of the world, globalization has also upended the agricultural and manufacturing sectors in many countries. First, Madiba shows those of us who believe in freedom and democracy we are going to have to fight harder to reduce inequality and promote lasting economic opportunity for all people. It is a truth that lies at the heart of every world religion -- that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us. That we see ourselves in other people. He said, "Democracy is based on the majority principle. And to make democracy work, Madiba shows us that we also have to keep teaching our children, and ourselves -- and this is really hard -- to engage with people not only who look different but who hold different views. They stand on the shoulders of those who came before, including that young black boy born 100 years ago, but they know that it is now their turn to do the work.

For the first time, the majority of people worldwide lived in cities. The global city is a metropolis whose primary relation is to other global cities, not to the nation where it is located. There is no symbolic form for dispossession in the global city. There is no location that can be occupied to stop the spread of the global city. Today, the monuments are barricaded, a substitute target for those who protest the global city. Stand in Columbus Circle in New York City and the contradiction between the colonial monument and the sky-dwelling global city comes into sharp appearance. A different kind of monument is being created for the global city. If the super-talls and The Vessel seek to make a definitive statement of the global city’s rise to power, decolonization is the question of how to resist it. In visual work, decolonize your medium. Protesting the monuments makes that exclusion visible.