MEMOIRS OF A BORN FREE, reflections on the rainbow nation

172 pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2014

"At only 22, Malaika Wa Azania displays a deep intellectual grasp of our evolutionary character as a nation in this incisively argued book, 'Memoirs of a Born Free', which contests the acceptability of the concept of 'Born Frees' as a useful sociological concept in post-apartheid South Africa. With wit and an ability to articulate her mind with lucidity, Malaika shows how the legacy of the intersection of race and class continues to define the South African social landscape..." Kgalema Motlanthe, former Deputy President

"A brave and compelling tale of the courage and determination of three generations of strong and independent women and the commonalities of their struggles to be free across significant periods of our history - the 1960s, the 1980s and the 1990s. The contemporary focus gives unique insight into the long way we still have to go." Mary Metcalfe, Chairperson of Education Programme, Open Society Foundations

Malaika Wa Azania, real name Malaika Lesego Samora Mahlatsi, was born in Soweto in 1991. She is currently the African Union African Youth Charter Ambassador for the SADC region and the executive director of her own writing and transcribing company, Pen and Azanian Revolution (Pty) Ltd. In 2012 she founded a pan-Africanist journal, "Afrikan Voices of the Left". She is a columnist on "Thought Leader", "The Sunday Independent" and "DestinyConnect" and a contributor to "The Thinker" magazine. She is currently a student at Rhodes University, Grahamstown.