"Strijdom! Stop and think for you have aroused the wrath of the women of South Africa and that wrath might put you and your evil deeds out of action sooner than you expect."
Lilian Ngoyi (1911-1980) speaking during the Women’s March to the
Union Buildings, Pretoria, 9 August 1956
"The most potent weapon in the hand of the oppressor
is the mind of the oppressed."
Steve Biko (1946 – 1977)
"I like to say, quite long ago my forefathers extended a hand of friendship to people of Europe when they came to that continent. What has happened to the extension of that hand only history can say, but I would like to say, as I receive this prize of peace,
that the hand of Africa was extended.
It was a hand of friendship, if you read history."
Chief Albert Luthuli (1898-1967) accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, December 1961
"Awaking on Friday morning, June 20, 1913,
the South African Native found himself, not actually a slave,
but a pariah in the land of his birth."
Sol Plaatje (1876-1932) Opening lines from Native Life in South Africa, 1913
"A few days ago one of the nicer warders got talking to me and said he wondered why I got mixed up in all this business, meaning politics generally. How does one explain to a chap like him that to live a life of humiliation and without dignity is not worth living"
Ahmed Kathrada (1929-2017)
