“Three generations of white South African men were bound together at that table. Vermuelen was the first generation. He defined Africa, made it safe for Basson to defile. I was the last generation, the last to grow up in segregated neighborhoods. Between us was the silent photograph of Wouter Basson. Like a distant father, Basson was absent at the dining table.” – Henk Rossouw (Hole in the White ‘Hood). Also Mahmood Mamdani on Bantu Education at UCT, Gael Reagon on sisterhood, Binyavanga Wainaina on dis-covering Kenya, Gaston Zossou on African intellectuals and more…
Cover:
Strange Fruit by Lewis Allen
The Text: A member of the African elite groping its way out of the background of slavery and colonialism, Baako sees his education as preparation for the lifework of a socially innovative artist. His family, more pragmatic, expects an elite resumé to convert into power and wealth in the real world here and now. Unable to harmonize countervailing needs with wider social aspirations, both family and individual drift toward confrontation and inexorable loss.