White Schooldays: Coming-of-Age In Apartheid South Africa
April 21st is quickly approaching – our next program in the series Jewish Communities Around the World. Sponsored by our Sisterhood. Isme Bennie writes in her book, White Schooldays: Coming-of-Age in Apartheid South Africa about her life as a child growing up in Apartheid South Africa. It is an amazing story. Please read some comments by those who have already read Isme’s story….
“This is a wonderful memoir, full of life, detailing the amazing life of one of the most intelligent people I have ever read about. Her prose is artistic and her life, itself, is fascinating. I highly recommend this unique memoir to all readers.”
“I think your book is absolutely excellent! In fact, I think it is of award-winning caliber. You write of a time and place that could be any small town in S.A. during the Apartheid years. It is part of history itself! I mentioned it to a friend in Australia who grew up in JHB and she is going to order it. I read it slowly, as one would a delicious meal, to make it last longer! It was a chocolate mousse for me!”
Join us! Tuesday, April 21, 2015 at 7:30 pm in the Enkin Boardroom
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White Schooldays: Coming-of-Age In Apartheid South Africa
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
7:30 p.m.
Join us on Tuesday, April 21st at 7:30 pm in the Enkin Boardroom as our Sisterhood generously gives their support to this program in the continuing series, Jewish Communities Around the World. At this event, Ismé Bennie, a native of South Africa will reflect on her life of privilege as a young white Jewish South African growing up during the tumultuous and unjust Apartheid era. As a young girl she was not aware of how advantaged she was, she was a child at play under the South African sun.
White Schooldays is a reflection on the relative normalcy of Bennie’s life in the 1940s and 1950s – a life filled with her pets, family, school and friends. As a Jew, Bennie was a minority within a minority, but she still enjoyed the benefits of life as a white South African. Her everyday experiences stand in stark contrast to the suffering of the black community, the violence and discrimination that went on around her.
White Schooldays is Bennie’s homage to a way of life that was special and beautiful for those who were privileged to lead it. In this collection of pieces, with a strong Jewish thread running through it, she paints a picture of daily life as she remembers it.
But these memories are underscored with the political reality of the times!
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White Schooldays is a reflection on the relative normalcy of Bennie’s life in the 1940s and 1950s – a life filled with her pets, family, school and friends. As a Jew, Bennie was a minority within a minority, but she still enjoyed the benefits of life as a white South African. Her everyday experiences stand in stark contrast to the suffering of the black community, the violence and discrimination that went on around her.
White Schooldays is Bennie’s homage to a way of life that was special and beautiful for those who were privileged to lead it. In this collection of pieces, with a strong Jewish thread running through it, she paints a picture of daily life as she remembers it.
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