The eight-part video series
An Interview with Fatima Meer
Political leader, academic, publisher, author, human rights and gender activist and Gandhian, Fatima Meer was born in Durban, on August 12, 1928, the daughter of Moosa Meer, editor and publisher of Indian Views [1914-1965], and Rachel Farrel. Fatima was educated at Durban Indian Girls’ High School and subsequently completed her Bachelor’s and Masters degrees in Sociology at the University of Natal -- a remarkable achievement for her time, because very few black, let alone Muslim, girls attended high schools and only a handful of Indian women went on to graduate from University.
Fatima’s political activism started early. She helped organize Indian and African women under the banner of the Durban and District Women's League. She became Secretary of the League and Bertha Mkhize (president of the ANC Women's League) became the Chairperson. This was the first women’s organization with joint Indian and African membership. The League organized a crèche and distributed milk in the large shantytown of Cato Manor. The race riots was one of the turning points in Fatima’s life, and she spent the better part of her life working tirelessly to improve race relations, promoting justice, reconciliation and non-violent action.
The role that Fatima and her husband Ismail played in cementing the relationship between the Indian and African National Congress and with people such as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and Chief Albert Luthuli, is one of the enduring stories of the liberation movement. The couple’s friendship with Nelson Mandela and his family is one that has endured over the years. Fatima had a close working relationship with Winnie Mandela because of their involvement in the Black Women’s Federation; they also served six months in detention together. Mandela’s trust and confidence in Meer’s writing ability was affirmed when he agreed to her doing his first authorized biography titled, ‘Higher than hope’.
A fervent champion of the underclasses, Fatima Meer went against her banning order to undertake social and educational projects in the neighboring communities of Inanda and Phoenix, two poor areas were Gandhi and John Dube had planted the seeds of the upliftment of their people in the early 20th century. Her years of tirelessly fighting against Apartheid and repression culminated in South Africans voting in their first democratic and multiracial election in 1994.
When Fatima Meer died on March 13, 2010 in Durban, at the age of 81, she left a shining legacy of commitment to social justice and equality and to intellectual honesty that will live forever.
Adapted from South African History Online
http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/professor-fatima-meer
Videos One through Eight
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Interview with Prof. Fatima Meer
Interview with Prof. Fatima Meer
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Interview with Prof. Fatima Meer
Interview with Prof. Fatima Meer
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