Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

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 Sachs

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Suffering, Survival, and Transformation: Conversation with Albie Sachs, by Harry Kreisler, 2/2/98

This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

Welcome to a Conversation with History. Our guest today is Justice Albie Sachs, a member of the South African Constitutional Court. Justice Sachs is the 1998 Regents' Lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley. Justice Sachs was a leader in the struggle for human rights in South Africa and a freedom fighter in the African National Congress. Twice he was detained without trial by the security police under the Apartheid regime. He describes his detention in The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs, which was made into a play in London. He is also the author of numerous books on issues of gender, the law and human rights, and most recently he wrote The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter, which is an account of his recovery from an attempt by the South African security forces to kill him. He now serves on the South African Constitutional Court.
  1. Background: Childhood ... parents ... surrounded by political activity ... fairy tales and legends ... mother's influence ... black - white interactions
  2. Background: College Years ... political philosophy ... law as a career ... college years ... an environment of conflict and struggle
  3. The Law ... abstract book-learning ... civil rights lawyer ... connecting legal theory to the lives of people ... injustice through law
  4. An Activist in Politics ... joining the African National Congress (ANC) ... the first protests
  5. Writing ... in school ... in prison ... turning ugliness into beauty
  6. Detention ... destroying the detainee ... anger ... admiration for Gandhi and the suffragettes ... recognizing the humanity of the guards ... observation as a tool for surviving ... salvaging self esteem ... timing
  7. The Bombing ... different forms of courage ... courage of the mind ... the limits of hero worship ... learning simples tasks again ... soft vengeance
  8. After Apartheid ... influence of experience ... feelings of satisfaction ... aloneness; solitary confinement ... idealism ... simple truths and the power of forgiveness

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