Welcome to Litsy!

This began as a riveting and heartbreaking story. The memoir was so action-packed I couldn't believe it was true at times. When compared to slavery in America, we have nothing on what took place in South Africa. This book tells the story of how a young man defeated the odds that were stacked up to the moon against him. He followed his heart and his dreams and they came true. Recommended for everyone. Surprised it wasn't required reading in school.

Owen estimated that to play in both tournaments would cost about 600 rands ($500)... he would have to work continuously for a year, getting up at 4 in the morning 🌞 and coming home at 9 in the evening🌚; and we would have to go without food 🍔, medical treatment, paying rent, etc.

I have about 50 pages left...

To die fighting for one's freedom is no sacrifice, for life without freedom isn't worth living.

"That's where you're wrong, Jackson. Educating our children is the only way out of this pit of poverty."

"Me? Wrong?" my father said, stupefied.

??

From that day onward, I never again felt ashamed to tell people, when they asked me, that Granny was a gardener 👩‍🌾 or that she, my mother or father never went to school 🎒. In a way, that incident helped me overcome the type of shame that leads many people to deny their heritage, to forget where they come from, for the sake of acceptance.

For years afterward I was to think of that suicide attempt in the following terms: whenever the troubles of the world 🌏 seem too much, it helps to have someone loving ❤ and understanding to share those troubles with.

...in the mid - 1950s Alexandra boasted a population of over one hundred thousand blacks, Coloureds and Indians-- all squeezed into a space of one square mile.

😲

These two seem more promising... 🤞

Want to know how life was for blacks in townships in SA during apartheid? Read this book! It is horrible and great at the same time. Life is as tough at it can be with hunger, diseases, police beatings, prison time, bribes, robberies, and all the bad things that has to do with suppression and poverty. I have been to these townships after apartheid, and it's hard to imagine that it has been so much worse. Most definitely worth a read! #SouthAfrica

If you have not read this book, read it now! This should be compulsory reading for everyone! You can get it for free right now https://archive.org/search.php?query=Kaffir+boy&sin= Plus, if you know people who constantly complain about their lives, make them read it. Let us never forget what apartheid was like. Truth is stranger than fiction.

I eat food like I read books... no ability to restrict myself #airportabundance #doublechinsfordays #nomnomnom

Reading on Walpole Island #Memorialdayweekend2018 #nonfiction

In honor of #blackhistorymonth I‘ll be reading these three books! What books either authored by or written about the black community do you recommend?

She's not on litsy, but my daughter's current book sounds like an incredibly powerful read about a black South African boy's experiences during apartheid. Moving true story for this MLK weekend.

#litsypartyofone

Pearls pick for the month of January.

An eye-opening memoir about life under apartheid in South Africa. I can't even imagine living in those conditions, let alone finding a way to rise above them.

Mathabane describes the squalor and poverty he faced as a child. I especially admired his mother. Even with her own limitations--a lack of education and a patriarchal system that left her little respite from abuse and endless childbearing--she fought to give her children a better life.

#photobookchallenge day 26 - banned book

I didn't want to go with one of the classic banned books, so I chose Kaffir Boy! It is an autobiography of Mark Mathabane, a South African who was raised in Johannesburg during Apartheid. Since I recently read Trevor Nunn's Born A Crime, I feel like I need to read more about this period. Any recs for me?

#blackhistorymonth #diversebooks #nonfiction