ANDILE NDLOVU: Let's remember the courageous activism of Simon Nkoli
'I am taking this situation [detention] as part of life in the struggle for a better society in the future. Remember that there is no easy walk to FREEDOM'
It has been 25 years since African-American transgender icon Marsha P Johnson was found dead in the Hudson River - and almost 21 since South African gay rights and anti-apartheid activist Simon Nkoli died. The former's life - and mysterious death - is the subject of a new documentary to land on Netflix this past weekend.Titled The Death and Life of Marsha P Johnson,the almost two hour-long film by David France charts the efforts of Johnson's friend, Victoria Cruz (an LGBTI activist herself), to probe her death. It follows Cruz's visits and calls to various authorities and interviews with friends and other allies. Those who knew Johnson best still refuse to believe her official cause of death: suicide. Nkoli's was from an Aids-related illness. Both, however, were deemed nuisances in their countries. Nkoli co-founded the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand, which also organised Johannesburg's first Gay Pride march in 1990. Johnson was at the forefront of the LGBT movemen...
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