Part 1: Child of Apartheid
Episode notes
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