Part 1: Child of Apartheid

A leader in the making comes of age under apartheid rule.

Wilmot James is a child of apartheid. A descendant of Indian slaves, he grew up in a family of teachers who had an unrelenting drive for education despite forced removal from their home and political violence. At the age of eight, he lost his innocence as protests in his hometown of Paarl turned deadly. Playing the piano fed his soul. In college, he joined the black consciousness movement and when the 1976 Soweto Uprising spread to Cape Town, he used the Drama Society’s car to chauffeur activists. Soon after, he was taken from his home and imprisoned in the very place where Nelson Mandela would be released more than a decade later. His coming-of-age story reminds us of the power of education, the vulnerability of justice, and what it means to defend democracy and truth.

REELBLUE AND COCOON AUDIO

IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE PANDEMIC CENTER AND THE BROWN POLITICAL REVIEW

PRESENT LISTENING TO SHADOWS

PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE BENTLEY HOLT, ALICE IM AND CLARA BAISINGER-ROSEN

PRODUCTION SUPPORT JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER JR. LIBRARY

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS JENNIFER GALVIN AND BART WARSHAW

ILLUSTRATION BY ROKIA WHITEHOUSE, LYDIA SMITHEY AND ORLA MAXWELL

SOUND DESIGN AND AUDIO MIXING BY BART WARSHAW

EDITED BY JENNIFER GALVIN AND BART WARSHAW

WRITTEN BY WILMOT JAMES AND JENNIFER GALVIN

NARRATED BY WILMOT JAMES

DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY JENNIFER GALVIN

SPECIAL THANKS TO JENNIFER NUZZO AND JESSIE GRAHAM

MUSIC BY BLUEDOT AUDIO