THE VISIBLE COUNCIL, GUIDED BY THE INVISIBLE
For three days and two nights, tucked away in the quiet embrace of a farm, I sat with men who have lived more than half a century of South Africa’s unspoken histories. It was less a gathering than a council. Visible in our laughter, debate, and storytelling, yet guided always by an invisible hand of […]
DIARY OF A BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS TOWER WHO SURVIVED APARTHEID BRUTALITY TO TELL THE STORY
August 18, 2025, marked 48 years since Black Consciousness father Steve Biko was arrested in a roadblock with his confidant and comrade, Peter Cyril Jones. The writer, a BC anti-apartheid activist and a contemporary of Biko, recounted the events of that fateful roadblock and that resulted in Biko’s assassination in police custody on September 12, […]
OPEN MIC, OPEN MIND: A MASTERCLASS WITH LEFIFI TLADI
There are evenings that unfold as planned. Carefully curated events with clear start times, smooth transitions, and a sense of control that leaves everyone reassured. And then there are evenings that refuse containment. Where the very act of gathering becomes part ritual, part rebellion, and part revelation. The recent evening at MOMO Gallery, in honour […]
FREEDOM PARK TO HOLD A SYMPOSIUM ON YOUTH ACTIVISM TO COMPARE AND REFLECT ON DIFFERENT EPOCHS
Freedom Park, in collaboration with Keeloz Global Entertainment, will on Saturday June 21 hold a symposium to focus on the role of youth activism through different political eras, before and after the advent of democracy in 1994. The main theme of the day for the engaging intergenerational dialogue will be titled: Youth Activism: Then and […]
REFLECTIONS ON YOUTH DAY 2025 – THE POWER OF OUR HISTORY AND IDENTITY
This year’s Youth Day commemorates 49 years since the June 16 Student Uprisings (also known as the Soweto Massacres), a crucial turning point in the liberation struggle of South Africa. In 1976, Soweto, the unbridled bravery of tens-of-thousands of schoolchildren ignited a countrywide rebellion, setting in motion a transformation that would define the future. The merciless killing of […]
ZAMA-ZAMAS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE
An exploration of memory, myth, and the posthumous mining of liberation credentials Gold from the Grave These days, it seems that to die in South Africa is to finally receive your liberation stripes. A friend sent me a link to a social media tribute the other day. The dearly departed was someone we had all […]
DR GOMOLEMO MOKAE’S 2ND MEMORIAL
Yesterday May the 7th 2025, our now crossed over Cde Dr Gomolemo Mokae was remembered in a heart warming ceremony at the State Theatre in Pretoria. Those who loved and lived with him came from far and near to honor this Gentle Giant who was an Octopus of a soul. Dr Mokae fitted everywhere as […]
LAUNCH OF THE AZANIAN VETERANS’ CONVENTION (AZAVEC)
Azanian Veterans Convention (AZAVEC) Launched: Empowering a New Era of Liberation and Black Consciousness. The Azanian Veterans Convention (AZAVEC) was launched in Soweto on Saturday 03rd May 2025 as an autonomous national formation composed of distinguished veterans who were involved in the anti-colonial liberation struggle under the banner of Black Consciousness. A non-sectarian home of […]
FROM THE EDGES OF EXILE TO THE HEART OF HOME: A COLLECTIVE MEMORY REKINDLED
We didn’t plan it this way. None of us imagined a WhatsApp group could become a movement, but here we are, grown children of exile, of scholarship, of struggle, slowly circling back to one another after decades scattered across time zones, continents, and causes. What began as a gentle check-in from Vuyo Ntshona, “Are you […]
AZANIAN VETERANS CONVENTION (AZAVEC)
The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) played a pivotal role in the struggle for freedom in this country. Through a variety of organisations such as the SA Students Organisation (SASO), The Black People’s Convention (BPC), the Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO), students, workers and cutural workers organisations, the BCM was the trailblazer in the front line of […]
OPENING OF THE AZIZ PAHAD INAUGURAL ANNUAL PEACE, SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS DIALOGUE
Speech Delivered by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola, under the theme: Constitutionalism as the Foundation of Nation Building and Social Cohesion: A Reflection of 30 Years of Freedom, Equity and Justice in a Post Apartheid South Africa. “As we gather here today and this moment in history, we must guard against the […]