Identity area
Reference code
ZA COM RCB-1254
Title
Poli Poli
Date(s)
- 2021 (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
Printed matter, 248 pages.
Dimension: 23.3cm x 15.1cm
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Place of Publication: South Africa
ISBN 978-1-77619-095-9
ebook ISBN 978-1-77619-096-6
Dimension: 23.3cm x 15.1cm
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Place of Publication: South Africa
ISBN 978-1-77619-095-9
ebook ISBN 978-1-77619-096-6
Context area
Name of creator
(18 July 1941-)
Biographical history
Political activist, academic and ambassador. Left South Africa in the 1960s and studied in Botswana, Swaziland and Ghana. Graduated with a BA from Ohio State University and was assistant professor of English literature at Staten Island Community College, New York, and then at Rutgers University, New Jersey, until 1982. Served as the chair of the US regional political committee of the African National Congress. Headed the ANC’s Department of Arts and Culture, 1983. Returned to South Africa in 1990 and was elected to the ANC National Executive Committee in 1991. Became Mandela’s personal assistant in 1990. Has served as South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States, France and UNESCO.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Donated by the author
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Poli Poli is a remarkable history that speaks to African identity, close family bonds, belonging, struggle and sacrifice, women's rights and femininity, and is written with the lyricism and transporting detail of one of the country's greatest wordsmiths.
Barbara Masekela powerfully conveys the realities of life under apartheid and illustrates the features and characteristics of life in a coal mining community like KwaGuqa in the 1940s, Alexandra township in the 1950s, and one of the oldest girls-only schools in KwaZulu-Natal, Inanda Seminary. The memoir follows her grandmother, a beer brewer and seller who lived through the aftermath of the South African War; her professional parents' determination to secure opportunities and safety for their children at a time when the state was shutting doors on the black people; and her university stint in Lesotho and departure into exile to Ghana in 1963.
Barbara Masekela powerfully conveys the realities of life under apartheid and illustrates the features and characteristics of life in a coal mining community like KwaGuqa in the 1940s, Alexandra township in the 1950s, and one of the oldest girls-only schools in KwaZulu-Natal, Inanda Seminary. The memoir follows her grandmother, a beer brewer and seller who lived through the aftermath of the South African War; her professional parents' determination to secure opportunities and safety for their children at a time when the state was shutting doors on the black people; and her university stint in Lesotho and departure into exile to Ghana in 1963.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
2x copies; 1 autographed
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
NMCM: Reading room
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Nelson Mandela Foundation
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Final
Level of detail
Full
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English