Foreword of a new book has a tribute by Gillian
Posted at 9:20 AM (PDT) on Monday, September 12, 2005

Liberation struggle veteran Ahmed "Kathy" Kathrada launched "A Free Mind: Ahmed Kathrada's Notebook from Robben Island" -- a book of poetry, songs and quotations he transcribed while locked away for 26 years in apartheid prisons. Kathrada said the authorities went out of their way to stop prisoners from studying, and study material had to be smuggled into the Robben Island prison.

The foreword to the book contains tributes from political figures, academics, some Hollywood actors - including Samuel L Jackson, Blair Underwood, Danny Glover and Gillian Anderson - and a word from music giant Quincy Jones. Most praise Kathrada for his moral stature, integrity and courage and, not least, his "wonderful" sense of humour.

The gathering was addressed by Dr Neville Alexander who spent time on Robben Island with Kathrada. "The Robben Island experience is one which we in South Africa have still very much to learn from," he said. People of different views of what South Africa should look like were thrown together on the island, and this was very important for "shaping the democratic ethos for this country". The prisoners "succeeded in turning Robben Island from a place of punishment to a place of learning... from a prison to a university."

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For other books by Ahmed Kathrada, click here and here.