Memoirs of a Born-Free

Apartheid isn’t over—so Malaika Wa Azania boldly argues in her account of growing up black in modern-day South Africa. Malaika was born on October 19, 1991, as the white minority government was on its way out, making her a “Born Free”—the name given to the generation born after the end of apartheid. But Malaika has experienced firsthand what she calls “institutionalized racism,” apartheid’s legacy in the so-called Rainbow Nation. Recounting her upbringing in a black township racked by poverty and disease, the death of a beloved uncle at the hands of white police, and her alienation at multiracial schools, she evokes a country still held in thrall by de facto apartheid. She takes us through her anger and disillusionment with the myth of black liberation to the birth and development of her dedication to the black consciousness movement, which continues to be a guiding force in her life. A trenchant, audacious, and ultimately hopeful narrative, ‘Memoirs of a Born Free’ introduces an important new voice in South African—and, indeed, global—activism.