OBERLIN GLOBAL FEMINIST COLLECTIVE
“Our voices are not asking politely. They are demanding survival. Hear us, and march with us.”
Profile: Thandi, 29, Johannesburg. Organizer in the #TotalShutdown protests.
Q: What drove you to join the #TotalShutdown movement? A: “Too many women around me were dying. Friends, neighbors, strangers. Gender-based violence here is not news — it is daily life. I joined because silence was unbearable.”
Q: How do protests in South Africa feel? A: “They are heavy and powerful at once. We drum, we chant, we march. The rhythm keeps us going. It connects us to the women who fought apartheid, and to each other.”
Q: What do you think global feminists should understand about your struggle? A: “That our fight is not separate. Violence against women is everywhere, but in South Africa it intersects with race, poverty, history. Solidarity must recognize those intersections.”