Durban – Human rights campaigner, anti-apartheid activist, black woman writer, independent publisher and one of South Africa’s first black female academics, Fatima Meer was not only a national treasure, but also known and respected for her role in the struggle, challenging oppression and discrimination.
Her autobiography, Fatima Meer: Memories of Love and Struggle, has been published seven years after her death. It is expected to be launched nationally next month at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
The book was completed and made print-ready by her daughter, Shamim Meer, the eldest of Meer’s three children.
“This book paints a picture of my mother’s life. It tells a coming- of-age story of a young girl and political activist in a significant time in our country’s history, and makes an important contribution to the memory of our country’s collective past,” wrote Shamim in the introduction to the book.
Shamim is one of South Africa’s pioneers of feminist media – a founding member of the “Speak” and “Agenda” collectives in Durban.
Picture: Supplied
“It was only four years after my mother’s passing that I could get back to the task of working on my mother’s autobiography. It was an emotional time. Now, three years later it is done, published as a book,” said Shamim on her labour of love.
Meer was writing and publishing when few black women managed to get published in a white-dominated publishing industry.
She founded Madiba Publishers to get relevant books and stories published and read. Her life was about love, family, education, activism, struggles, revolution, university and courage.
Meer began her autobiography while working on the autobiography of her husband, Ismail Meer, after the human rights lawyer passed away.
Shamim said: “While finalising my father’s autobiography, my mother began to reflect on her own life, beginning with her earliest memories as a young child in Durban’s Grey Street, recollecting her early activism of collecting donations for flood victims and giving her first political speech as a 17-year-old girl.”
The manuscript was handed over to the publishers and one of the happiest moments for Shamim was holding it in her hands.
The writing and editing they shared, symbolic of their mutual love and respect, had finally materialised in the much-anticipated book.