How can man die better: The life of Robert Sobukwe

by Benjamin Pogrund

Book by Pogrund, Benjamin

Genres: South Africa, Africa, History, Biography, Politics, Nonfiction

406 pages, Paperback

First published May 24, 1990

About the author

Benjamin Pogrund was born in South Africa and was deputy editor of the Rand Daily Mail in Johannesburg. He now lives in Jerusalem and is founder director of Yakar's Center for Social Concern. He has written three books: about Robert Sobukwe, Nelson Mandela, and the press under apartheid, and is co-editor of Shared Histories: A Palestinian-Israeli Dialogue.

Reviews

[Phumlani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start by saying I am not a huge fan of biographies,i much prefer auto biographies, I feel auto biographies are a bit more..Personal. Anyway, I approached this book with a hint of cynicism, thinking Pogrund had just written it merely as an academic exercise...but boy was i wrong! This book conjured a lot of emotions in my usually immovable heart, mainly awe, envy and something akin to sympathy, but not sympathy, I’m yet to be able to label that emotion. This man was a legend, albeit a lonely legend let me hasten to add that I had the privilege of going to Robben Island and saw where the diabolic apartheid government had decided to hide him. Standing there looking at the dingy place where he was kept hidden, I was attacked by a sense of shame and this strange sensation that made my eyes want to release that salty fluid that is a cause for embarrassment for a strong man such as myself.
This man was a genius; he is an unsung hero in not only South African, but African liberation. This is a man who was a pioneer in Pan Africanism.
The book is a very detailed look at the philosophies and decisions of a genius, Pogrund out did himself, he paid attention to detail and the book is very well researched.
Not to be read by the overly emotional :-)

[Fadesola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cape Town is the most beautiful place while simultaneously being its ugliest. Robert Sobukwe links both the past and present of South African oppression in ways few people ever can.

I purchased this book upon my visit to Robben Island in Cape Town souvenir on a bit of impulse after our tour guide showed us where his solitary confinement was located. Although a bit too dryly written considering it is an account of the relationship rather than a detached biograhy, it does a decent job in it portrayal of the great Robert Sobukwe. Upon reading this, with my admittedly limiteds knowledge of south african history, it seem quickly apparent that it was an element of pure luck that the Sobukwe's name isnt as well known as Mandela's as both did very much to advance South African society.

They were both leaders of influential african political groups. Both were jailed under draconian laws in terrible conditions. In fact one could argue Sobukwe was jailed under worse conditions- he was jailed in solitary confinement for 6 years, whereas Mandela was not, where he lost the ability to speak for a while because the guards where instructed not to speak to him .

It seems that the critical distinction between them was that of their organizational structure- PAC, Soubkwe's group fell apart after he went to jail, while ANC, Mandela's group remained active. It seems that in business, politics and revolutionary struggles, foundations are critically important for continued success. But I digress.

Robert Sobukwe gave his entire life to the struggle to make South Africa a better place through violence. His organization was the driving force behind the protests that caused the Sharpeville massacre, a peaceful protest to a draconionian law where the police opened fire on an unarmed crowed killing 69 people- 70% of which forensic research showed people got shot from the back. Sobukwe was sentenced to 3 years in jail but spent 6 years under the "Sobukwe Clause" where the government every subsequent year following his actual release date would just extend it for another year because they were like, fuck it, why not?

After his release, mostly due to psychological issues caused by solitary confinement for years, he then served house arrest for another umpteen years before his death to cancer, which was left to fester undetected due to the extremely restrictive nature of his house arrest. Basically the government took away his freedom and killed him.

I cried while reading this book- whether it was the nature of Sobukwe's repression, his positive mindset & hope, his unwavering stance of anti-racism or the lack of fulfillment of his dreams, it is very evident that is a very remarkable man.

It would be a damn shame if his dream went unfulfilled. For all the beauty of Cape Town, the putrid stench of racism linger through my every interaction in the city. It is no coincidence that one of the most brutal prisons known to man lie in the confines of this city. The rich are almost exclusively white and the poor exclusively black. Not only that but it is quite evident in every day interactions that every one has their place. I got lost and tried to ask a white woman my mother's age directions to the hotel and she wouldn't even stop to listen to what i has to say. I was intitally angry but then I pitied her when I realize that she didn't even know what she was doing. Furthermore, if my mother had been a South African she probably would not have gone to school.

The black South Africans have gained political freedom but what use is political freedom without economic freedom?

"...my own feeling is that [Sobukwe] would have been shocked by the continued lack of freedom in South Africa today. I think he would have been shocked that so many human beings live without freedom. A person is not free if they do not have enough to eat, if they have to hear their children cry in vain for food. A person is not free if they have to sell their bodies in one way or another for a very tiny mess of potage. A person is not free if they cannot read and write in a society that rewards only the literate. A person is not fee if they must beg on the streets, or go irredeemably into debt, or steal from others – in other words, beg, borrow or steal. That is the condition of the majority of our black population – and some from other population groups as well. The astonishing thing is how many do NOT resort to crime, considering the alternatives."- Njongonkulu Ndungane

My hope is that one day, south africa will be truly free.

[Rebecca Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is almost a definitive history of the struggle against apartheid from a South African perspective other than Mandela's.

Robert Sobukwe was a member of the PAC (Pan-Africanist Congress) instead of the ANC. He was a brilliant mind and so feared by the Nationalist Party (the political party in power that instated Apartheid) that he was held in prison not for his deeds but from fear of what he would do. Read my whole review here: http://rebeccafjellanddavis.com/rober...
The book is work because some of it reads like a history book, but it's fascinating and well worth the time spent!
I'd never even heard of Sobukwe until I visited Robben Island prison off the coast of Cape Town. He's a man we should all know.

[Dr. Corey Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sobukwe was the brightest of all South African robben island captives.....leader of the PAC and a professor at Wits, the Harvard of the east......he died to young people in Kimberly away from all he knew and loved...

[Jaydee Tarpeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book! Not just a biography of Sobukwe but a history of South Africa. Pogrund beautifully shows Bob Sobukwe as a person and a legend. So So powerful! I would read again and again.

[Inem · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I was excited when I found it on the shelves of a used bookstore in the US because I've heard a lot about Robert Sobukwe and wanted to better understand his struggle and the fight for Pan-Africanism and African nationalism in Azania. I do have comrades who are members of the Pan-African Congress of Azania (PAC) and I mentioned to one that I had purchased this book. He warned me to take certain things with a grain of salt because it was written by a white liberal author. I completely understand his reticence and if I were in his place, I would probably have even taken the warning further by writing off the book entirely. After all, Pogrund is pretty disrespectful to PAC and their politics in the book. It is really only in the first few chapters that we learn anything about Sobukwe as a Pan-Africanist and as an organiser. Most the books is focused on Pogrund's personal relationship with Sobukwe while he is in prison, a significant portion of his life sure-- but with a de-emphasis on his organising work and a near complete erasure of his leadership and relationship with the PAC, it's hard to really understand why Sobukwe is so important based off of this particularly biography. The way Pogrund writes this is like Sobukwe organised one important campaign once in 1960 and then that was the full extent of his political organising work. Even worse, Pogrund seems to insist that Sobukwe was this "colorblind" liberal who loved American democracy and was perhaps even a mild to moderate zionist. The latter claim is hard to judge in this book given the tremendous and clear bias of the author. It does seem like Sobukwe was critical of Israel, but still in some ways stood by the country. If that is the case, I would not write him off entirely for it, as during this era, there were mixed feelings among Africans worldwide regarding Israel. MLK, for example, defended Zionism out of ignorance and Kwame Nkrumah maintained diplomatic relations with Israel at a certain point (largely because I don't think it ever really occurred to him not to). However Sobukwe's perspective on Israeli aggression in the region comes across as rather critical and unsupportive and I feel like the author likely sanitized some of Sobukwe's views. Pogrund has no understanding of revolutionary Pan-Africanism or revolutionary nationalist opposition to settler colonialism. He spends the conclusion of this book freaking out about the potential of reverse racism in South Africa. Worst of all, he weaponizes Sobukwe the way that white liberals in the United States weaponize Martin Luther King Jr. Every time there's a Pan-Africanist or African revolutionary action he disagrees with, he makes some sort of "Sobukwe didn't die for this" type of argument, domesticating Sobukwe's revolutionary legacy and cherry picking the most comfortable and palatable of Sobukwe's positions to whip out when convenient. I reiterate that I really wish this book had focused more on Sobukwe's leadership and continual engagement with PAC, his enduring Pan-African politics-- the beginning chapters mention his dedication to the United States of Africa, and his connections with Nkrumah and Sékou Touré and then the once he goes to prison, his Pan-Africanism seemingly disappears in the author's narrative-- and his relationship with Steve Biko and the slightly later Black Consciousness Movement. To be fair, the author does touch on the latter subject, I just would have liked more, perhaps even an entire chapter. But I think we have to take this book for what it is, one white liberal's personal story about his connections to Robert Sobukwe. I'm harsher in my review than my rating, probably because there are so few books about Sobukwe out there, that I feel hesitant to rate this any lower. It is regrettable that PAC has not produced and published any comparable book.

[Stephen A Bess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about a great South African. He's the reason I am married. It's a long story, but my close friends understand.

[Fela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Sobukwe is as great as Nelson Mandela....read this book

[Andile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prof. Robert Mangaliso Sokukhwe was the most feared leader by the white apartheid regime. He was the fearless leader of the Pan Africanist Congress in South Africa. A party whose motto was: "Afrika for Afrikans at home and abroad".

I was only four years old when he was arrested and sent to Robben Ireland. It's so funny that as I grew up I always observed that when somebody mentioned his name other people would caution that somebody to keep quiet "Shhhh!!!". As I started schooling in history classes I would hear some of my classmates mentioning in silence that there are black people one does not have to mention their names and, the most feared one by the whites, was Robert Sobukwe. At the time I was not so sure why, but as I grew up and entering higher primary school I met mature boys who understand the history of the Pan Africanist Congress and Robert Sobukhwe. They said he was capable of organising thousands and thousands of local Township black people to march and occupy cities demanding freedom. The whites and apartheid government would be so scared that they negotiate nicely and promise concertions; and when people have gone home, the apartheid police would come and arrest him. I listened attentively but secretly so that our teachers cannot hear or figure out what we were talking about. One would also be reported by the teachers to the authorities if R.Sobukwe's name is heaared mentioned by students.

During "Sharpville Massacre" of the 1960s I heard that he was the one who organised the black people to burn their "Passes" or IDs and, demanded to hand themselves over to be arrested by the police. The police came in large numbers and fired live ammunition that killed and injured many black people. And he was later arrested. I heard that he was the first long term prisoner in Robben Ireland...and he was placed in solitary confinement at a secluded place in that notorious prison. The other later prisoners like Nelson Mandela would not see him for years and years.

When I was 20 years in 1976 I heard the whole story about him because it was now time for "Soweto" student apprising all over the black Townships of South Africa. We all sang songs about him including "MAYIBUYE I AFRIKA", "COME BACK AFRIKA", "They must give back our Africa otherwise we will take it by force".

I know that the writer of this book was one of his best friends and therefore I would recommend anyone to buy and read this book and find out for yourself why he was not made popular then and even now by the ANC government.

[Laney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book during my trip to South Africa and I believe it provides great insight on who Robert Sobukwe was and the terrible experiences he endured throughout his life. Personally, I disagree that reverse racism exists where a Black person inflicts racism onto a white person which the author states in the book. To be racist, you must hold institutional power to oppress another group of people. Black people still don’t have the power to oppress white people in South Africa….it is still very segregated and the economic disparities are extremely visible. I also don’t think the author (who was sobukwe’s friend) should’ve been upset that students didn’t want him to speak at the funeral…..they were in the middle of apartheid. Just my disagreements with the author, not Mr. Sobukwe!

[Sifiso Radebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always wanted a personal account of this great man's life. Honestly, I feel it could have been done better. It feels a bit more of a journalistic account of events and his life than a biography. It didn't capture my imagination nor did it give me a glimpse into the mind of Sobukwe the way I had anticipated. It's still a good read if you are purely looking for knowledge and not the entertainment.

[Sicelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benjamin Pogrund's account of the political life of Robert Mangaliso Sobukhwe does not only provide illumination and insight into the mind of this great leader of South Africa's liberation struggle but also weaves neatly a tapestry of circumstances underwhich the struggle for liberation occurred and how each of the leadership components interacted as well as the extent to which such vital cooperation aided the process.

It is a delightful read especially also to the extent that it exposes to a degree the extent of contribution some pockets of the white people community made to the struggle in terms of their support for either the liberation political parties (or movement) or key figures therein.

After reading Pogrund's account, there is without doubt that not ALL white South Africans necessarily supported the apartheid regime nor folded their arms when they could contribute to the struggle for its elimination.

Indeed, Pogrund's account gives an interesting perspective on how delicate yet involved and intense the process of engagement was between some white people communities and the black liberation struggle leaders, to the extent of risking their own and family members' personal lives to achieve an ideal.

It's worth a read!

[Nur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always had a great admiration for Robert Sobukwe, the founder of the Pan African Congress ( a break-away from the African National Congress), who also inspired the Black Consciouness Movement.

[Mpho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book ever

[Annlin_the_archaeologist · Rating 5 out of 5]

WoW. Just wow.

[Quincy Tsatsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great insight on the man Biko once described as God