Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Guide: Books/Films

Examines the situation of Black women and political repression in Southern Africa. Commemorates the contribution of South African women to the success of the anti-apartheid struggle. It recovers the "women's campaigns" of the 1950s against the hated pass system. Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Dora Tamana and other leaders recall this struggle and their imprisonment and banning.

Shot illegally in the Republic of South Africa, this documentary exposes the oppression of Blacks and other people designated as colored under apartheid rule in South Africa. Filmed throughout South Africa, from Capetown to Johannesburg, as well as in the surrounding Black townships and the desolate bantustans, this film visually portrays the stark contracts between living and working conditions for the 18 million Blacks and the 4 million Whites who ruled over them.

Using never before seen archival footage and interviews in South Africa and the United States, filmmakers ... tell the unknown story of Robert Kennedy's 1966 visit to South Africa during the worst years of Apartheid. The film evokes the connections between the American Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa. The filmmakers find witness to this special moment in time through the sights and sounds of present day South Africa.

Details Cuba's support for African revolutions, with 300,000 Cubans fighting alongside Africans in independence struggles from 1960 onwards. Discusses Che Guevara's military campaign to avenge Lumumba in the Congo and Cuban involvement in Angola and in the fall of Apartheid in South Africa. Features archival footage and eye-witness accounts.

Moving from a remote village to the metropolis of Johannesburg, South Africa, a proud young Winnie soon found love with a rising political star, Nelson Mandela. When Nelson was imprisoned for protesting the brutal Apartheid government, Winnie worked tirelessly to win his freedom and to carry on his message of peace and equality. Her struggle was rewarded by years of persecution and imprisonment. Throughout, her resolve to fight for her freedom, her family and her country never wavered.

491 Days: Prisoner Number 1323/69 shares with the world Winnie Mandela’s moving and compelling journal along with some of the letters written between several affected parties at the time, including Winnie and Nelson Mandela, himself then a prisoner on Robben Island for nearly seven years. Readers will gain insight into the brutality she experienced and her depths of despair, as well as her resilience and defiance under extreme pressure. This young wife and mother emerged after 491 days in detention unbowed and determined to continue the struggle for freedom.

Winnie Mandela, one of South Africa's most visible and articulate apartheid foes, spent many years as a "banned" person in her own country. She lived under virtual house arrest and was forbidden to address public gatherings or meet with more than one person at a time. She endured a forced separation of 27 years from her husband, Nelson Mandela. Here, in interviews and letters, she tells the story of her life and political development.

This biography provides a unique perspective on, and understanding of, the life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who has been adored, feared and hated more than any other woman in South African history.

A group of women at a specific period in the history of Southern Africa find their family life under the pressures of capitalist modernity and apartheid. These ordinary, intimate stories are anchored to the more powerful public stories of the Penelope of ancient Greek mythology (who waited 18 years while her husband Odyseeus was away), and Winnie Mandela (who waited for 27 years). The life of Winnie Mandela remains one of the great unfolding dramas of our times; a tale of triumphs and tragedies that is only just beginning to be examined.

A group of poems dedicated to Winnie Mandela, the wife of Nelson Mandela who was the first indigenous leader to hold the office of President of the Republic of South Africa.