Helen Joseph

[Samael_Khan]

If you check out Google's custom logo today you will see an elderly lady in front of the word Google and the word itself in the colours of the South African flag. This is in memory of Helen Joseph, an anti-apartheid activist who stood up to the government to fight for greater rights, such as health care, freedom of speech, racial equality and women's rights. She was placed under house arrest for 3,145 consecutive days and was almost killed by gun shot and bombing.

She is just one of many women who fought for human rights against the Apartheid government. South Africa actually has a long and storied history of women fighting for our freedom from even before the institution of Apartheid.

See wiki article below:
Helen Joseph - Wikipedia

 

[rocala]

A wonderful person. Thank you for this information @Israel Khan. The history of freedom and justice has so many brave women in its ranks.

 

[Samael_Khan]

A wonderful person. Thank you for this information @Israel Khan. The history of freedom and justice has so many brave women in its ranks.

Definitely. And I don't think that they get enough credit. I have been reading the history of my country as of late and the women stand out quite a lot. And it wasn't just women of "colour" standing up against Apartheid but also "white" women fighting for the oppressed. These women were fighting from the start. And most of the names of these freedom fighters have been forgotten by the youth here in South Africa. We don't realise what actually happened and how big the struggle was. It is so cool that Google paid homage to a relatively unknown person in the popular world.

 

[sun rise]

Google has long since given up "don't be evil", but I'm glad this tradition from earlier days remains and a woman such as Helen Joseph is being honored.

 

[Samael_Khan]

Google has long since given up "don't be evil", but I'm glad this tradition from earlier days remains and a woman such as Helen Joseph is being honored.

It sucks that they have given that motto up, it was a pretty cool one. But I am liking these Google logo doodles that represent something important. A person learns a lot from them.

I am also glad that she is being honoured.

 

[Isolde Schulz]

Definitely. And I don't think that they get enough credit. I have been reading the history of my country as of late and the women stand out quite a lot. And it wasn't just women of "colour" standing up against Apartheid but also "white" women fighting for the oppressed. These women were fighting from the start. And most of the names of these freedom fighters have been forgotten by the youth here in South Africa. We don't realise what actually happened and how big the struggle was. It is so cool that Google paid homage to a relatively unknown person in the popular world.

Imagine: there is actually a park here named Rosa Park.

 

[Samael_Khan]

Imagine: there is actually a park here named Rosa Park.

Just saw it on google maps:

rosa park - Bing Maps

Was it names after her or is it just coincidence?

Over here we have a whole lot of buildings and places named after activists, such as Oliver Tambo airport and Nelson Mandela Bay, but the youngsters do not know the relevance of the any of the names besides Nelson Mandela.

 

[Isolde Schulz]

Just saw it on google maps:

rosa park - Bing Maps

Was it names after her or is it just coincidence?

Over here we have a whole lot of buildings and places named after activists, such as Oliver Tambo airport and Nelson Mandela Bay, but the youngsters do not know the relevance of the any of the names besides Nelson Mandela.

It was named after Rosa, an 11-year old girl who vanished years ago. One of the cold cases.

 

[Kooky]

It sucks that they have given that motto up, it was a pretty cool one.

It was a bit as if the US Army had the motto "you shall not kill": It's a fair principle, but a bit hypocritical sounding, given the source.

 

[Samael_Khan]

It was a bit as if the US Army had the motto "you shall not kill": It's a fair principle, but a bit hypocritical sounding, given the source.

True true. And the Google is a global corporation so "don't be evil" probably conflicts with their corporate goals.