A Burning Hunger: One Family's Struggle Against Apartheid

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Jonathan Cape, 2004 - 451 pages
"On 16 June 1976 the youth of Soweto rose up in protest against a new rule making Afrikaans the language of instruction in their schools. Tsietsi Mashinini, a charismatic high-school student, led them in demonstrations that quickly turned into South Africa's biggest rebellion. Tsietsi's actions on that day set in motion a chain of events that changed his country irrevocably and forever defined his family. From that moment forward, the Mashinini name became the stuff of legend: many of Tsietsi's twelve siblings and even his parents, law-abiding, church-going citizens, found themselves pulled inexorably into the fight against apartheid." "A Burning Hunger tells the story of this remarkable family. It is the story of black South Africa in microcosm, embracing just about every facet of the liberation struggle. One of Tsietsi's brothers became a commander in the outlawed African National Congress army, whose guerrillas launched attacks against the white government. Another was twice arrested for his militancy, cruelly tortured, tried for treason, freed - only to go on to help incite the insurrection in the 1980s that finally brought the white government to its knees. Yet another brother escaped from South Africa as a youngster; taken into the ANC fold, he was educated abroad and served in the organisation's diplomatic service. Even their mother was not immune: she spent 197 days in solitary confinement in a South African jail." "If the Mandelas were the generals in the fight for black liberation, the Mashininis were the foot soldiers. Theirs is a story of imprisonment, torture, separation and loss; it is also one of dignity, courage and strength in the face of appalling adversity. Ten years after South Africa's first democratic elections, this record of one family's struggle is a timely reminder of the passion for freedom that led ordinary people to extraordinary acts. A Burning Hunger will become one of the seminal books about the struggle against apartheid."--BOOK JACKET.3.

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Contents

Map of South Africa ix
1
Chapter One Nomkhitha and Joseph
7
Chapter Two Joseph Nomkhitha and
27
Copyright

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