This One Thing... Surfacing: On Being Black And Feminist In South Africa

Given the title, it is easy to assume this collection of essays will have a singular focus on the political. The beauty of Surfacing, however, is its breadth. From paying homage to the 20,000 women who risked their lives to march in 1956 as a way of protesting against apartheid laws to the nuances of feminism in the context of Islamic faith, from the erasure of Black narratives in South Africa’s overwhelming white publishing world to a reflection on a woman’s relationship with her body, from the queer struggle under apartheid rule to exploring photography’s racialised lens… The topics explored are vast but, in the hands of editors Desiree Lewis and Gabeba Baderoon, astutely curated. For anyone interested in how race, sexuality, divinity, South Africa’s complex history and so much more intersect with the lived experiences of radical Black feminists, this stunning collection of writings is an essential read.