SOWETO, MY LOVE

by Molapatene Collins & Ruth S. Turner Ramusi ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 8, 1988

South Africa from the inside, as reflected in these memoirs of a native black whorose from pastoral beginnings to become a legal warrior against that country's racial laws. Born a member of the Batlokwa tribe of Molemole, Ramusi learned early the indignities forced on his family due to race. His education was constantly interrupted due to his family's inability to pay school fees not required of his white peers. But he prevailed, spurred on by one of his people's sayings: ""the word impossible is written only in the minds of fools."" (One of Ramusi's co-students, Eduardo Mondlane, went on to found the People's Republic of Mozambique.) Ramusi became an associate of Nelson Mandela and an early member of the Pan Africanist Congress; his militancy was sharpened by the death of his son at the hands of South African police. In a much more intimate portrait of life in South Africa than we are used to seeing from the pens of Western journalists, Ramusi tells of the depressing conditions of the black townships and the Bantustan tribal reservations, and of the sham governments set up by the white regime. After fighting for an independent Bantustan legislature, the author was driven into exile for eight years in the US, living in Chicago and attending Northwestern U., where he studied anthropology. Now back in South Africa, Ramusi works for his people as an attorney in that country's Supreme Court: he finds that his people perceive the leaders of the US, Britain, and West Germany as the greatest protectors of apartheid because of their large investments in South Africa. A stirring autobiography and unusual firsthand account from within the belly of the South African beast.

Pub Date: Feb. 8, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1988

Categories: NONFICTION