Hearing an ex-political prisoner talk about his experiences while standing in the room he was once caged in was so impactful that it is almost hard to find words adequate enough.
I was visiting the island for my global studies field class, so I knew it would be educational. I didn’t realize how personally the day would move me, though.
Sparks was arrested in 1983 when he was a seventeen-year-old boy recruiting people to join in the opposition to apartheid. He was locked up for years longer than he was supposed to be, released only a year before all political prisoners were let go in 1991.
He told us how the food supplied to them varied in accordance with the prisoners’ skin colours. The black men were given a sort of liquid ‘energy shake’ for lunch, nothing else, which was found to sterilize them so that they could not reproduce. In questioning how the inmates might have realized this, we came to our own realization that nearly all the men in this prison were doctors, lawyers, or professors. Educated men fighting against something that was so incredibly wrong were punished for having a voice. They spoke up for those who could not, and in turn they were silenced as well.
The fact that Sparks was even able to return to Robben Island, let alone live there and talk constantly about his horrific experiences absolutely baffles me. I understand that sometimes things like this can be a way to heal, confronting the past that is so haunting to a person, but I am so completely in awe of how strong this man is. At fifty-two, he has been through lifetimes of struggle and efforts to prevent injustice.
I am always exceptionally grateful to hear about the history of places, because I believe that it is very important to remember these sorts of things. The past will be repeated if it is forgotten, and it makes a huge difference to teach people the specifics of these sort of awful events. Sparks was generous enough to tell his story and allow it to reach young people who will one day direct the course of history. His openness and detailing of his tragic past were so much more impactful than if somebody else has been speaking to us. Hearing from a survivor of the situation was an opportunity I did not even know existed, but I am so incredibly grateful for.
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