BOOK REVIEW: Story of black SS Mendi crew pulled to the surface
BLACK SACRIFICE: The Sinking of theSS Mendi, 1917Sandi BaaiNational Heritage Council and Sandi Zinnia Baai Foundation The Rev Dr Gladstone Sandi Baai, who died in 2012, had a varied career. He was a Methodist minister, theology lecturer at Rhodes University, director of ethics at the Public Service Commission, South African Human Rights Commissioner and author of OR Tambo — Teacher, Lawyer and Freedom Fighter. He is the only African historian to have written an interpretation of the sinking of the SS Mendi. In it, he discusses the event in terms of "black sacrifice", starting before the First World War and ending postapartheid with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The book, entitled Black Sacrifice: The Sinking of the SS Mendi, was written by Baai before his death and was completed posthumously by his daughter, Gandhi. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela aptly sums up the themes in her foreword: "We need to understand that we breathe today in SA because of the continuous black sacrifi...
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