Mandela's Other Children

In Mandela's Other Children, Baba Galleh Jallow invokes the intriguing concept of a Pan-African struggle against oppression. As he narrates his personal ordeals as a journalist working in an oppressive "shadow state" since 1994, Baba skillfully comments on some complex issues related to the African condition that are not readily obvious to the non-African observer. The pages of this book are littered with chilling accounts of how "orders from above" lead to arbitrary arrests and detentions, nocturnal arson attacks on media houses, the promulgation of unjust laws, the murder of prominent citizens, the Soweto-like massacre of school children holding a peaceful demonstration, and the forcible closure of radio stations and newspapers critical of the government. But Mandela's Other Children is also a story of heroic resistance, stubborn defiance, and a steely determination to assert and preserve endangered sovereignties by threatened social entities. This is a truly worthy addition to the growing corpus of works on the post colony. Students of comparative journalism will also find much that is useful in these charged pages.