ABOUT THE MEMOIR

In this memoir of the 1970s in New Brighton – the largest black township built by the apartheid system outside Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) – family relations and the development of the writer’s political consciousness and organizing abilities at the American-owned Ford Motor Company factory take centre stage. Lyrical and often colloquial, sprinkling his English narrative with isiXhosa, Mpumelelo Cilibe gives us a vivid and very honest picture, both of his personal life and his role as a leading regional activist. Irrespective of where he found himself, he always maintained his independence of thought and action, and by the late 1980s, noting the problematic behaviour of many activists who were ensnared by the apartheid authorities, elected to largely withdraw from political life. The social and literary power of this work thus lies in its description of the challenges of growing up in a period of growing resistance to white rule and shows how a resolute individual navigated extreme currents in order to make a contribution to the general struggle and yet keep his personal integrity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mpumelelo (Mpumi) Cilibe was born and raised in Port Elizabeth/Gqeberha where he still lives. He went to Newell High School then to Lovedale College. He co-founded two trade unions MACWUSA and GWUSA and three non-profit organisations. He has published short stories in both isiXhosa and English in numerous literary journals including Staffrider magazine, Botsotso, Timbila, Kotaz and the Columbia literary journal of Columbia University, USA. He is a 1995 alumnus of the US-South Africa Leadership Exchange program.