Afro Book Club discussion

This is the discussion thread for The Sabi, winner of the African - December 2013 Book of the Month

Let us know what you think of the book by Diane Brown from South Africa. Please also provide any additional information about the author, the book or other related matters

http://www.maryokekereviews.blogspot....

http://maryokekereviews.blogspot.com....

This is a great interview with the author Diane Brown Mary - what a nice blog focusing of African books. http://maryokekereviews.blogspot.com....

So glad the Sabi was chosen for the goodreads book of the month. The happiest moments when the author was discovering her true self are heartwarming and easy to read, yet there are parts of the book that I find very difficult to come to terms with and those are the times that I had to put the book the book aside and regroup!

Thandiwe, welcome to Afro Book Club, and thank you for your comment.
How I agree, sometimes you just have to put the book down and deal with the contents, take it in, and then continue on the journey with her.
The relationship with Bongi is something else, as well as the friends(Evy)

Agree Donald the relationship with Bongi and Evy was very strong, Evy was very nurturing,and each of friends had different roles in the course of her journey. Vena is my guy though
Every person needs a Bongi

With all the frantic news about ambulances and priests arriving at the Mandela home, and the world media gathering there to await a an inevitability, I will quote a line from The Sabi, page 22

"The last photographs of Nelson Mandela were taken 27 years prior to his release from prison, and the whole world had been waiting with baited breath to see what he had looked like. Twenty seven years is a long time, and the years had taken a toll on him"

The Sabi actually spans three decades - from the time Nelson Mandela was imprisoned to the time when he was released. It gives a good account of what life was like in South Africa during his incarceration, what apartheid was like, and it also gives a historical account of what led to that state of imprisonment

For me I was struck by how much excitement black South Africans had then about what the release of political prisoners would do for South Africa as well as the unbanning of the political parties.

And I think now about the disillusionment of South Africans now - a general sense of disappointment.

The book also touches on the role the family (father) played with ANC when they were in exile. It is quite fitting that we reading this book in the month of Mandela

Rest in Peace Mandela

I wonder how common the practice of sending children away to boarding facilities was in the past. The author does not really mention why she was sent away from that age. That experience is difficult for me to comprehend.

Donald wrote: "With all the frantic news about ambulances and priests arriving at the Mandela home, and the world media gathering there to await a an inevitability, I will quote a line from [book:The Sabi|1812528..."

You had called it right and since that day our news on the radio and television here has been about Mandela. I read an interesting article about the legacy of Mandela which is not as noble as many point out. Have been thinking about this in the past few days and wondering how things could have been done differently

Here is the link http://www.theguardian.com/commentisf...

The Sabi really did awaken much questioning in me about the post apartheid South Africa. It is as if a whole generation has been robbed of its history and understanding about why the problems in the current South Africa is so inextricably linked to the past.

C.D. wrote: "I wonder how common the practice of sending children away to boarding facilities was in the past. The author does not really mention why she was sent away from that age. That experience in difficul..."

While I did not read the book I have read many books based in many colonized countries - Africa, Caribbean and Asia and sending the child away to boarding school I would say is common enough.

C.D. wrote: "The Sabi actually spans three decades - from the time Nelson Mandela was imprisoned to the time when he was released. It gives a good account of what life was like in South Africa during his incarc..."

To address your point about the excitement at the release of prisoners/winning of rights/independence and focus of the future being better. And then the reality of present a couple of years/decades later.
This was a subject that some friends and I discussed recently after reading The Wine of Astonishment (which is set in Trinidad) and Freeman (which is set in the US).

But looking at these situations in hindsight - you can see that all energies were focused on eliminating the yoke of oppression and so there is a unified front against the oppression, as soon as the oppression is eliminated then different groups have different priorities on what needs to be done first to achieve certain goals. And all this needs to happen while people need to live their daily lives and the reality most often is that nothing changes for very many. There are often a few who will have the opportunity to better there lives (often with the promise that they will help others get the opportunity).
I think in SA's case like with the US - those that were in power/control mainly in the economic areas remain in place and since laws do not change people's attitudes then those in control just change their ways of oppression and keep doing that until those ways become illegal and thus the discrimination just morphs and changes over time.
If you think about what changed or did not change in day-to-day life for those that were oppressed and the answer is not much - did they have the skills/education/experience to do something other than what they were doing the day before - was the infrastructure in place to assist the majority whose living conditions, educations needed to be improved.

All very hard questions and there isn't a single solution. Freeman is a storyline on what did slaves do when they immediately heard they were emancipated - they needed to find a job and a place to live so could survive the day-to-day life. Those in charge were still dictating the rules as they could decide how much to pay the newly emancipated workers and could charge whatever rent they wanted.

Well said Beverly, the structure is entrenched. Here is a link I found, a post written by the author on Mandela, I sense a desperation about the real change that still needs to happen.
Its almost a cry, a desperate cry perhaps that even someone as iconic as Mandela could not deliver the real change
Given where The Sabi ends, at the time of Mandela's release from prison, and now 20 years later .. black South Africans still seem to be crying out for real change

http://www.dianebrownauthor.com/2013/...

There are times in The Sabi when she reflects on the situation at the time and then pauses to check in on how the US is doing .. I quote a section that made me pause:

"It is now over one hundred years ago that slavery was abolished in the United States of America. Martin Luther King still talks of “A dream” and Mississippi is burning! And in this year of my birth Kwame Ture would make his Black Power speech, which would in my later life resonate deep in my soul. “This is 1966 and it seems to me that it’s ‘time out’ for nice words…We have to say things nobody else in this country is willing to say and find the strength internally and from each other to say the things that need to be said.”

- At this point in the book, I had to put it down and reflect deeply, with with much sadness, on the plight of the black person everywhere. How much Ture's words could be said today

How far are members with this book? Any new insights?

I was particularly taken aback by the colorism in the Indian community in South Africa. Any thoughts on this?

Donald wrote: "How far are members with this book? Any new insights?

I was particularly taken aback by the colorism in the Indian community in South Africa. Any thoughts on this?"

On the issue of "colorism" among East Indians - if you look at a number of cultures you will often see this. It may not be called "colorism" but will often times be attributed to some other reason - but the result is the same.

Fantastic story!! Diane is quite a woman

oh wow - thank you for this. i'm south african and don't even know about this book !! added it to my 'to read' list ...

Started reading the SABI yesterday,yes Christmas day.I am not even half way through I suppose what's making it hard for me is that most of the points/incidents hits right home..phew!will get there slowly but surely

Mal wrote: "Fantastic story!! Diane is quite a woman"

Mal yeah quite a story, quite a woman. I appreciated the direct conversation

Julia wrote: "oh wow - thank you for this. i'm south african and don't even know about this book !! added it to my 'to read' list ..."

Julia that is a pity , Connor has made us aware that it ain't an easy task to get black authored books there - I suppose emphasizing the need for a reading group like this to discover books in the continent and the diaspora. Hope you get it (at least on epub it is freely available on amazon, etc.)

Andiswa wrote: "Started reading the SABI yesterday,yes Christmas day.I am not even half way through I suppose what's making it hard for me is that most of the points/incidents hits right home..phew!will get there ..."

Andiswa I can identify, when a very close family member read the book she made the same comment
Seems to me familiar experiences in the diaspora too

Donald wrote: "Julia wrote: "oh wow - thank you for this. i'm south african and don't even know about this book !! added it to my 'to read' list ..."

Julia that is a pity , Connor has made us aware that it ain'..."

it is a pity indeed. will definitely try to get it and will tell my fellow south african readers.

Andiswa wrote: "Started reading the SABI yesterday,yes Christmas day.I am not even half way through I suppose what's making it hard for me is that most of the points/incidents hits right home..phew!will get there ..."

Please share your views about the themes covered in The Sabi. I liked your comment on the review and agree

Andiswa wrote: "Started reading the SABI yesterday,yes Christmas day.I am not even half way through I suppose what's making it hard for me is that most of the points/incidents hits right home..phew!will get there ..."

An amazing book - a book of truths that needed to be told in South Africa about race and the legacy of a brutal past, a violent present and a nation in denial perhaps

Mal wrote: "Fantastic story!! Diane is quite a woman"

Agree fully quite courageous

Andiswa wrote: "Started reading the SABI yesterday,yes Christmas day.I am not even half way through I suppose what's making it hard for me is that most of the points/incidents hits right home..phew!will get there ..."

Andiswa, I wondered if you could identify the 'sabi' that author portrays about being a black woman and wot it means and how it plays out today? Have u finished reading the book?

I just started reading it this evening. I found the foreword to be quite powerful. Looking forward to reading more.

We now have Oscar Pistorius mania in SA news and social media and made me think of this book which really gives a very personal account on why did SA become so violent.

I been thinking of the duality issue much today when I found this forum. About the duality the author says:

"There is is a duality to South Africa as in all of life itself .. it gives birth to an inspirational sports talent who can also kill his girlfriend ..."

Looking at the media today I come to terms more with why this book is so relevant. This country needs healing - from the violence, the femicide, abuse of women and children, rape. It is a country that really needs to come to terms with itself very honestly.

The gun in the home this author describes, the threats and the fear of becoming another statistic really did send a chill down the spine. I am sad looking at Reeva Steenkamp images today

Women are often the first causalities of anger, frustration, displacement, 'emasculation'

This was first book I read in my country where someone owns these issues so openly - we need open dialogue and healing

Wow, what an amazing comment, Zoli. I agree with the last two points you made in earnest. I definitely see myself as a feminist and I've been thinking a lot about my possible thesis topic and how I can create a safe, healing space for women, especially women of colour. Dialogue is definitely paramount. It's amazing all we've had to bear as a collective group, it really is.

Rowena wrote: "Wow, what an amazing comment, Zoli. I agree with the last two points you made in earnest. I definitely see myself as a feminist and I've been thinking a lot about my possible thesis topic and how I..."

Thank you Rowena for your comment. Dialogue and courage to write about gender and race (and class) openly without apology is important I agree. (Patriarchy, white supremacy and capitalism - at the root) Great topic for your thesis - there is no doubt that black women endure the worst forms of oppression because she is in fact a victim of all three oppressive systems

A blog post on this book from Malebo

http://www.malebosays.blogspot.com/20...

Zoli wrote: "Rowena wrote: "Wow, what an amazing comment, Zoli. I agree with the last two points you made in earnest. I definitely see myself as a feminist and I've been thinking a lot about my possible thesis ..."

I agree with you, Zoli. Thanks for the inspiration:)