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Anti-apartheid leader to speak at St. Olaf

By Linnae Stole '10
September 17, 2008

Eddie Daniels, a leader in the South African anti-apartheid movement, will be on campus Sept. 23 to speak about his years as a political prisoner and his work to end racism and achieve reconciliation in a post-apartheid world.

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Daniels will make his first appearance on campus during morning chapel, held at 11:10 a.m. in Boe Chapel. That evening he will speak in the Black Ballroom in Buntrock Commons. A social hour where guests can meet the author will begin at 7 p.m., and Daniels will deliver his lecture at 8 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

Daniels, who turns 80 on Oct. 25, grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and experienced firsthand the inequalities of apartheid society. In 1959 he joined the Liberal Party on the basis of its being non-racial and anti-government. He spent several years attempting to destabilize the apartheid government before being arrested on grounds of sabotage in 1964. He spent the next 15 years as a political prisoner at the infamous Robben Island, off the coast of Cape Town. While there, he met fellow prisoners Nelson Mandela, who after his own release would go on to become the first democratically elected president of South Africa under the African National Congress (ANC), and Walter Sisulu, future deputy president of the ANC.

Following his release from Robben Island in 1979, Daniels continued to face hardship under the apartheid system. He was placed under house arrest and prohibited from participating in public gatherings. Despite the oppression he faced, however, he continued to work toward a free and just South Africa, even after apartheid was abolished in 1994. His autobiography, There and Back: Robben Island 1964-1979, was published in 2002. In 2005 Daniels was awarded the Order of Luthuli in Silver for "excellent contributions to the struggle for an equal, just and democratic society" by the Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.

Associate Professor of Political Science and Department Chair Kris Thalhammer, who is organizing Daniels' visit, encourages members of the St. Olaf community to attend the event.

"Any time we can hear an eyewitness to history to tell us about their struggle to achieve justice, we should take advantage of that opportunity," she says. "Eddie Daniels' visit is one of these rare opportunities."

Event sponsors are the American Racial and Multicultural Studies (ARMS) program; the Africa and the Americas program; Amnesty International; the Civic House; the Department of Political Science; the faculty of the social sciences; the faculty of Interdisciplinary and General Studies; the Kloeck-Jenson Endowment for Peace and Justice; and the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Community Outreach (MACO).

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.