Reflections in prison : voices from the South African liberation struggle / edited by Mac Maharaj.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Maharaj, Mac.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African National Congress.

Political prisoners--South Africa--Robben Island--Biography.

Political prisoners.

Political prisoners--South Africa--Robben Island--Correspondence.

African National Congress--History.

African National Congress--Biography.

History.

Robben Island (South Africa)--History.

Robben Island (South Africa).

South Africa--Robben Island.

Genre:

Biographies.

Correspondence.

Personal correspondence.

Physical Description:

xvii, 253 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, 2002.

Summary:

In 1976, while imprisoned on Robben Island, Nelson Mandela secretly wrote the bulk of his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. The manuscript was to be smuggled out by fellow prisoner Mac Maharaj on his release later that year. Maharaj also urged Mandela and other prominent political prisoners to write essays on South Africa's political future. These were smuggled out with Mandela's autobiography and are now published for the first time.

Written by Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, and four other leaders of the anti-apartheid movement, these essays provide a rare view of their thinking at a critical point in the liberation struggle, on the eve of the 1976 Soweto Uprising. The leaders describe their philosophies, strategies, and hopes. They debate such crucial issues as violent versus nonviolent forms of struggle, diversity and unity, the ideological challenge of the Black Consciousness movement, and how to accommodate different interpretations of African nationalism.

The book begins with a foreword by Desmond Tutu and a contextualizing introduction by Maharaj. Then come two essays by Mandela and one each by Sisulu, Kathrada, Mbeki, Billy Nair, John Pokela, Eddie Daniels, and Andimba Toivo ya Toivo. Each essay is preceded by a short biography of the author, a description of his life in prison, and a pencil sketch by a black South African artist.

Contents:

Where Thought Remained Unprisoned / Mac Maharaj ix

/ Nelson Mandela 1

Clear the Obstacles and Confront the Enemy 7

Whither the Black Consciousness Movement? An Assessment 21

/ Walter Sisulu 65

We Shall Overcome! 71

/ Ahmed Kathrada 91

Indian South Africans

A Future Bound with the Cause of the African Majority 97

/ Govan Mbeki 125

The Anatomy of the Problems of the National Liberation Struggle in South Africa 131

/ Billy Nair 147

Through the Eyes of the Workers 153

/ John Pokela 187

Towards Freedom 193

/ Eddie Daniels 205

Let Us Work Together for Unity 211

/ Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo 223

Swapo leads Namibia 229.

Notes:

Originally published: Cape Town, South Africa : Zebra and the Robben Island Museum, 2001, in series Robben Island memory series, no. 4.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 247-250).

Written by Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Ahemd Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, and four other leaders of the anti-apartheid movement on the eve of the 1976 Soweto Uprising.

ISBN:

1558493425

OCLC:

49768262