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My wife tbV (the beautiful Val) and I returned to South Africa in 2014.
We had spent three years living in Americland (as I call it) working with non-profit organisations in fairly low economy and rough areas and were glad to be back. While I was in the States I had become particularly impassioned by the need for us to see racial equality in South Africa. Despite 20 plus years having passed since the “miracle of ’94” it was clear that for significant amounts of people, not too much had changed for the better.
Having been away for three years though, it didn’t feel like we had the greatest right to dive straight into conversations about race and reconciliation and other areas of importance.
A TRIP TO ROBBEN ISLAND
A short while after we returned to South Africa we were really fortunate to be invited to a weekend trip to Robben Island with a diverse group of young up-and-coming leaders for some conversations and reflection. Led by Rene August, under the banner of Freedom Mantle and with former Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane (a former political prisoner at Robben Island) as our host, we heard some first-hand stories of what had gone down during their time of incarceration – some light moments but also some harsher and more painful realities.
I was introduced to the person of Robert Sobukwe, a name I had heard but knew relatively little about, and just before leaving the island, picked up a copy of his book, How Can Man Die Better (written by his friend, Benjamin Pogrund) so that I could learn some more about a person who to many young black people I had discovered was viewed as even more significant than Nelson Mandela.
CATCHING UP
I thoroughly enjoyed reading that book and felt like it helped me begin a journey of catching up on a history I was never taught about South Africa. Next up was Steve Biko’s I Write What I Like which was largely a collection of essays and speeches that he had delivered. Two of the most influential voices of black Africans in South Africa, and both well worth getting your hands on.
I also read a number of other South African authored books, finding Antjie Krog’s Better to be Black very interesting and challenging, and No Life Of My Own by Frank Chikane, part of which recounts the time the government tried to kill him by putting poison in his clothes at the airport. I also tried one or two that were less inspiring. But the point was about reading the country’s story from different perspectives than those I had been surrounded with growing up.
Still on my list to read are classics like, The Country of My Skull (Antjie Krog) and Alan Paton’s Cry the Beloved Country which I hope to seek out right after I finish the book I just started, which is Desmond Tutu’s No Future Without Forgiveness.
WHAT CAN I DO?
South Africa is so politically charged at the moment and many people are (finally) asking, “What can I do?”. For me this feels like one of the most helpful things. It is time for us as white folks, especially, to really start catching up and trying to understand the country and the people we are surrounded by.
For us to be able to significantly engage with those around us of different race, I believe that we have to make “reading up about our country” part of our regular lifestyle. Inviting voices that don’t sound like ours of people who don’t think like us to share their stories and affect and help transform our thinking and then our actions.
This is not the answer. But it is a really good beginning. If you have never read How Can Man Die Better or I Write What I Like then that feels like a crucial place for you to start.
What other books would you recommend as “must reads” to better understand South Africa? And what books specific to the history of your own country (if you’re not South African) would you encourage others to read?