A LIFE

224pp., illus., spine faded, paperback, Cape Town, 1995

"In this powerful and fascinating autobiography, Ramphele tells the story of her personal and political growth. A hardy spirit brought up in the northern Transvaal, she set her sights on becoming a doctor and entered the University of Natal Medical School. Here she was drawn into the circle of activists centred on Steve Biko, whose colleague and lover she become. Ramphele was one of the first Black Consciousness members to be detained and then banned to a remote part of the Transvaal. Here in banishment, pregnant with his child, she learned of Biko's death in detention. Her determination to survive carried her through." Taken from the book.