Professor Allan Boesak graduated four days before the 1976 Soweto Uprising with his PhD from the University of Kampen in the Netherlands. Even though he was offered a job in the Netherlands, he decided to return home and join the struggle against apartheid. His PhD dissertation was aptly titled “Farewell to Innocence: A Socio-Ethical Study on Black Theology and Black Power.” On 23 February 2022, he turned 76 and launched his new book “Selfless Revolutionaries: Biko, Black Consciousness, Black Theology, and a Global Ethic of Solidarity and Resistance” in South Africa.
ZoneLearning@UWC recently sat down with Prof Boesak and talked about his intellectual journey and how UWC was central to his becoming. We talked about the successes and the mistakes of the anti-apartheid struggle. We also talk about the youth and the lessons they might learn from the mistakes of the anti-apartheid struggle. In addition, we talked about the role of the youth and universities like UWC can play in ‘post-apartheid’ South Africa. The interview is divided into three parts, and will release a part of the interview weekly. In Part 1, he talks about his and UWC’s intellectual formations. In Part 2, he explains how UWC became “the home of the revolution” against apartheid South Africa. Finally, in Part 3, we talk about his book and the similarities between the Black Lives Matter and Fees Must Fall movement.
Selfless Revolutionaries: books.google.co.za/books/abou...