Across Boundaries: The Journey of a South African Woman Leader

by Mamphela Ramphele, Johnnetta Betsch Cole (Foreword by)

One of the most distinguished women on the African continent, Mamphela Ramphele has been a prominent activist, medical doctor, anthropologist, teacher, and university leader, as well as a mother to two sons and lover of slain leader Steven Biko. Across Boundaries chronicles Ramphele’s inspiring journey, and reveals the staggering personal losses that coexisted with her astonishing political and professional achievements. Booklist writes, “what gives [this memoir} special power is not only the political freedom story, but her honesty about her failures and her fury and her survivor guilt. There’s deep commitment here, but not martyrdom…women everywhere will recognize her conflicts about her roles as mother, academic, political activist, lover, and friend.”

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

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Mamphela Ramphele is a leading South African academic, businesswoman, medical doctor and former anti-apartheid activist. She is a trustee of the Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko Foundations and Founder of the Citizens Movement.

She is the current leader of Agang, a developing political party.