No Child's Play: InPriIoa Under ApaJ1he1d, Caeslrina Kana MUhoete, The Women's
Press, London (121pp, price not known).
This slim, acce.ssiblevolumedescn1>es the author's experience during six yem in detention
in South Africa, on charges under the Terrorism Act She was a:rnmed II1d dellined in
Octoll« 1976 tm'involvanentin the BlI1tu education riots (that were met with the Shllp'Ville
Massacre). her whereabouts having been disc10Jed by h« policanll1 father. She was only
convicted. year latu,lIOd then given afive yearsentence. She was releuedinOctober 1982,
aged 27, having beenia solitary confinement in vllrious jails for almost h« entire sentence.
The book is written in a vecy immediate, informal style, exprusing from the heart, the
anger, frustration, commitment llI1dcourage of this powerful womlll1. She describes day to
day life in.various jails, and the continuing battle to improve conditions - with mll1Y
successes over the years, because of her relentless determination. Despite the hars.hne.ss of
the conditions she maintains her objectivity llI1deven a sense of humour, allied to a shup
sense of irony and justice.
It is the descriptive detail that brings her experiences alive - such as the time a letter to
a cousin was rejected on the grounds she had quoted the Bible, the only book to which she
had been allowed access for two years. The sheer pettiness of the prison system is amply
illustrated, quite apart from the generally inhumlll1 conditions, and, of course, the underlying
injustice of an elaborate apartheid system even within prison walls.
For anyone concerned to lellIJ'J.more of the daily reality of political imprisonment in
South Africa, Cde Makhoere's book provides a graphic, disturbing and inspiring personal
account.
Reviewed by Helen Jackson, School of Social Work, Harare.
Women Race and CIIl8S, Angela Davis, The Women's Press, London, 1981 (271pp, price
not stated).
One of the frequently heard statements in our lives today is 'this is the status of women in
such and such a country', as if women in that country live a uniform life and they have the
same concerns. For those with this false notion that one can talk about women as one group
Angela Davis' book is the book to read. Women Race and CIII8S is a journey through the
history of American women: black, white, poor, rich, and other groups. Davis shows that
even in their struggles for equality women in America were not united. Middle class white
women had their own concerns which were different from those of working class whites
and from black women.
Says Davis, white middle class women "viewed male supremacy as 111inunoral flaw in
their otherwise acceptable society". For them, being franchised was the only issue. Thus,
in thevery beginning of the franchise movement both black women and working class white
women were not involved. Davis sh>ws that it was only after working class women rea1ised
that getting the vote would also enable them to fight for better wozking conditions that they
took up the franchise issue.