Arrested Memories of the Struggle

Winnie Mandela at 80.

On September 26, 2016, Nkosikazi Nobandle Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela-Mandela, Winnie Mandela, celebrated her 80th birthday. She is one of the most well-known female activists to fight Apartheid in South African.  Arrested, tortured, banished, separated from her children, and deprived of her husband, she endured nightmarish circumstances a young wife and mother should never face. Subjected to frequent attacks on her property, she suffered threats on her life, and was ostracized by some Black South Africans for occupying spaces considered outside of a woman’s domain.

Winnie has, simultaneously, captured the world’s imagination and raised the ire of many. She is a complicated survivor of some of the worst times in South Africa’s history. There are numerous biographies about Winnie Mandela, and even more covering the life of her former husband, Nelson Mandela. Many of the works about him reflect prominently or tangentially on Winnie as a wife, mother, supporter of Nelson’s activism, or activist in her own right. A chapter about Winnie was included in the first edition of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography “The Struggle is My Life” (Pathfinder, 1978) but was excluded by the third edition (Pathfinder, 1990) because, as Mandela said, his wife’s work deserved wider treatment than a chapter could provide. In the earlier chapter, Nelson, then serving life on Robben Island, remarked on Winnie’s prison experience stating that she was “magnificently contemptuous of her tormentors” during her incarceration under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act (Mandela, 1978, p. 202).

Pretoria Central Prison

Winnie kept a journal of her prison experience, and “491 Days: Prisoner Number 1323/69” is based on that manuscript from which she was separated for 41 years until Greta Soggot returned it to her in 2011. Winnie’s 1984 autobiography, “Part of My Soul Went with Him,” reflects on her 491-day experience from a distance. In contrast, “491 Days” is stream of consciousness writing about events and hardships contemporaneous with her 16 months in, mostly, solitary confinement between May 12, 1969 and September 14, 1970. The writing is disjointed in places, goes into excruciating detail in some instances and takes a meta view in others. At times, the regular leaps in thought make the narrative difficult to follow. Nevertheless, it is the kind of interior monologue that is expected of someone undergoing torture, subjected to malnutrition, living in inhumane conditions, suffering ill health, and is deprived of the ability to safely care for her children. The irregularities function as a device and draw us into Prisoner 1323/69’s world.

Winnie Exiled to Brandfort, South Africa after release in 1970.

Winnie’s memoir gives the reader a first-hand understanding of an incarcerated woman’s experience of enduring solitary confinement at Pretoria Central Prison in 1960s Apartheid South Africa. Her record focuses on issues of social identity, power, knowledge, gender, race, issues of South Africa’s penal structure such as disregard for prisoners’ dignity and state measures to acquire intelligence through cruel means. In important ways, “491-Days” fills in the gaps in Winnie’s 1984 autobiography. She published her prison journal to serve as a reminder of the horrors of Apartheid in hopes that this reminder will discourage a return to systems of discrimination and hatred. The publication is a witness to the progeny of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Nelson Mandela regarding the depth and cost of the struggle on the lives of their immediate family. It painfully articulates the price paid by the matriarch. It is testimony that being deprived of her children, then nine and ten, was brutally painful for Winnie, and provides some insight into the challenges faced by the Mandela children while both of their parents were incarcerated.

“In a way during the past two years I felt so close to you. It was the first time we were together in similar surroundings for that length of time. Eating what you were eating and sleeping on what you sleep on gave me that psychological satisfaction of being with you.”

~Winne Mandela in a letter to her husband written on October 26, 1970 shortly after her release.

Letters to and from Winnie and Nelson, correspondence to their daughters, and communication to and from others engaged in the fight for freedom situate Winnie as part of a loving and supportive network beyond the Pretoria Central Prison. Hence, “491 Days” is evidence that the struggle for human rights is a family legacy that will, for generations, characterize the Mandelas. Researchers and students of South African history, Black liberation, and human rights struggles will find this first-hand record of a female’s experience a valuable perspective on the struggle against Apartheid. This work expands our understanding of the complicated life and times of a woman whose later activities cast a shadow on her years of tremendous resilience.

Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio (2013).

---

The Hidden Social Justice Advocate in Maury Povich

This week, In Media Res features topics on 'Domestic Abuse in Movies & Television' that runs through Friday. 360 Degrees will follow contributions to the discussion.  Today's presentation: 'With All Due Respect, I'm Far from a Slut": The Hidden Social Justice Advocate in Maury Povich.'

Interpersonal Verbal Violence

The contributor points to several rhetorical features of this segment of Povich. Framing is one. Framing is a powerful tool, however, there is no analysis to convincingly support the notion that "seeing the woman in her environment" provides a "more holistic view of the environment of abuse." Or, that "to see the man solely, we get a narrowed perspective of abuse where he is the sole core of the abuse relationship."

What this segment of Povich does demonstrate is that interpersonal violence can be verbal. And that verbal violence can produce as much trauma as physical abuse. 

Click 'The Hidden Social Justice Advocate in Maury Povich' to read curated post and comments on this important subject.

---

Private Violence

This week, In Media Res features topics on 'Domestic Abuse in Movies & Television' that runs through Friday. 360 Degrees will follow contributions to the discussion. Today, Monday, Laurel Ahnert presents 'Private Violence.'  

I believe that experiential knowledge is generally bastardize as a  pedagogical approach and means of understanding phenomena. If experience is anecdotal evidence it is dismissed out of hand. Such epistemological relativism is dangerous on many levels. Perceiving abused women's experiences as illegitimate is a tool of silencing. The work this film does is crucial. It moves the conversation from a limited standpoint epistemology closer to legitimation in the public square.

Click 'Private Violence' to read curated post and comments on this important subject.

---

The Deceptive Apology: Williams in Iraq

Image: Wikipedia

Brian Williams apologized on Wednesday, February 4, for the story that he was aboard an aircraft that was shot down by enemy fire during the 2003 Iraq War invasion. Rhetorically, the Emmy and Peabody Award winning, anchor and managing editor of the 'NBC Nightly News' attempted to correct his falsification of facts without admitting to lying.

Transcript of Williams' apology:

On this broadcast last week, in an effort to honor and thank a veteran who protected me and so many others after a ground-fire incident in the desert during the Iraq War invasion, I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago. (Emphasis mine) It did not take long to hear from some brave men and women in the air crews who were also in that desert. I want to apologize. I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft. We all landed after the ground-fire incident and spent two harrowing nights in a sandstorm in the Iraq desert. This was a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran, and by extension: our brave military men and women — veterans everywhere — those who have served while I did not. (Emphasis mine) I hope they know they have my greatest respect. And also now my apology.

The question is whether an apology is an apology if the statement is woven around a lie? Did Williams make a mistake in recalling what happened when he was a passenger on that helicopter? Is it possible for one to mistakenly recall being the direct target of enemy fire and their aircraft forced down in a war zone as Williams claims in his apology?

Williams' faulty memory disclaimer demonstrates a lack of respect not only for journalism but viewers and veterans alike. His rhetorical maneuvering suggests that neither are savvy enough to recognize his strategy to minimize his "recollection" of the facts. 

Was telling the lie about his 2003 experience the "bungled attempt"? Or, was using a veteran and by extension, as Williams states, all veterans, to bask in the reflected glory of the wartime soldiers the "bungle"?  Or both?

Williams on 'David Letterman' telling the RPG Helicopter Story in 2013 (2:46 marker):

Regardless of Williams' motives, the seasoned journalist is guilty of telling and retelling a false story and publishing it on a major news outlet. Would he have apologized if he had not been called out by a war veteran who was there?

Veteran's Post to the 'NBC News' Facebook Fan Page:

We will never know.

What is certain is that Brian Williams should be disciplined by NBC and the journalism profession just like other liars, such as Jayson Blair ("retired"), who deceive the public.

---