‘Bookended by two unspeakable tragedies, the suicide of a mother and of a son, Letters to my Mother offers one of the most compelling accounts yet of the making of an anti-apartheid activist.’ – Jonathan D. Jansen
‘Once you’ve read this book you will never be the same again.’ – Noel Daniels
Through his vulnerable remembering, he shows us that when we are ready, we must face ourselves and our untold stories.’ – Siphokazi Jonas
Meet Kumi Naidoo author of Letters to my Mother – The making of a troublemaker at his book launch.
Kumi tells how his mother’s suicide when he was just 15 years old acted as a catalyst for his journey into radical action against the apartheid regime. In this revelatory and intimate story, Kumi describes his political awakening, and his experiences as a young community organiser and underground ANC activist during the 1980s. His grief and anger became fuel for his efforts to help liberate South Africa and to build a better world.
Kumi Naidoo has been a troublemaker for over forty years. A former Secretary General of Amnesty International and former Executive Director of Greenpeace International, he has become a global figure in progressive social movements worldwide. A child activist of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, Kumi was born in 1965 and grew up in the township of Chatsworth. He cut his teeth as a youth organiser during the anti-apartheid school boycotts of the early 1980s, going on to become deeply involved in the underground activities of the African National Congress. Having been arrested multiple times, and with a price on his head, Kumi fled to the UK in 1987 where he took up a place at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, remaining in exile until 1990. On his return to South Africa, Kumi played a key role in the establishment of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) ahead of South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. He took on the responsibility of training the electoral staff and served as one of the spokespersons of the IEC.
In 2009, Kumi became Executive Director of Greenpeace International, the first person from the Global South to lead the organisation. From 2018 to 2020, Kumi was Secretary General of Amnesty International. He now serves as Special Advisor to the Green Economy Coalition and Senior Advisor to the Community Arts Network. He is the host of the Power, People and Planet podcast where he is joined by activists, artists and community leaders who are seeking to build a more sustainable future.
Meet him at :
