CT launch: 'Breaking a Rainbow, Building a Nation' by Rekgotsofetse Chikane on May 23

Join Rekgotsofetse Chikane in conversation with CapeTalk's Africa Melane as he launches 'Breaking a Rainbow, Building a Nation' at the Book Lounge

22 May 2019 - 13:02 By pan macmillan
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'Breaking a Rainbow, Building a Nation' poses the provocative question, can coconuts be trusted with the revolution?
'Breaking a Rainbow, Building a Nation' poses the provocative question, can coconuts be trusted with the revolution?
Image: Pan Macmillan

Breaking a Rainbow, Building a Nation is a first-hand account of the university protests that gripped South Africa between 2015 and 2017, widely known as #FeesMustFall.

Author Rekgotsofetse "Kgotsi" Chikane outlines the nature of student politics in the country before, during and after the emergence of #MustFall politics - exploring the political dynamics that drove the student protests and the effect that these movements have had on the nature of youth politics in the country.

He explores how the current nature of youth politics is different from previous youth upheavals that have defined South Africa - specifically due to the fact that the protests were led by so-called "coconuts", who are part of the black elite.

Chikane is a graduate of the University of Oxford in the UK, having completed his master's degree in public policy in 2017 as a 2015 Mandela-Rhodes scholar. In 2016 he was named one of the Mail & Guardian's Top 200 Young South Africans.

He is also the former national president of InkuluFreeheld, a non-partisan youth organisation focused on deepening democracy and enhancing social cohesion. He is an advocate for socio-economic equality and the practical realisation of decoloniality within a post-1994 South Africa.

He is adept at navigating a complex variety of South African social spaces - often as the "resident coconut" - and has experienced some of the best and worst of the #MustFall protests. 

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Article provided by Pan Macmillan

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