Ellen Kuzwayo's Call Me a Woman will be one of those 'hard to find' books. But it is definitely one that will touch your heart. It is an autobiographical account of this South African feminist and social worker that, via her lifestory, highlights the plight of women struggling to survive under the apartheid system.

The late Ellen Kuzwayo was a legend who was famous world over. She was a prominent figure in her lifetime where she performed a number of roles (feminist, teacher, social worker). She played an active role in educating young folks and getting folks to talk about the social ills that were taking place. In this way, although this book (1985) reveals a lot of shocking and sad truths about life under apartheid, it is also more about the South African woman and how she was affected by her position in this hierarchy of power and control. The fact that Kuzwayo made it out of a violent marriage and went on to educate other women about empowerment makes her a hero, once again. You have to admire her for her courage in this way given that some of South Africa's culture are quite patriarchal, making it hard for a woman to speak out against anything.

The book covers decades of Kuzwayo's life, decades where so much happens to change her as a person. What is interesting is that her dedication to help her people never waivers in these times. Thus, you learn of early hardship when she lost her land. Land is a topical issue even in modern South Africa (well, especially in modern South Africa, given its turbulent past) and her story is an example of what happened to so many others under a terrible regime. What is especially heart-wrenching is accounts of her marriage and the overall effect on her children. During this time a lot of families were torn apart, a lot of children were lost in the struggles and her tale once again is representative of others like her.

One thing I must point out is the writing style of the book. Kuzwayo does not employ flowery language or at least the gentler tones employed by African French writers. In fact, you could tell that she was describing events in a matter-of-fact manner, simply because she had a story to tell and this was the most logical way to reach many people. This adds a certain amount of sincerity to the book as, most of the time, you can really feel her pain and anguish.

Like I mentioned earlier, this book serves as an interesting historical account of what happened to everyday folks in townships during the apartheid era. In this way, it helps reveal more than various historical books as, in a lot of cases, you don't have a clear picture of how the people were affected. This book was also shocking for South Africans because the government of the time took pains to hide whatever was going on in different parts of the country.