Young South Africans Are Sick of the Status Quo

This Election Season, No One Is Fighting for Our Future—Mandela’s Party Included

This year we celebrate the milestone of 30 years as a democratic state and the seventh general election in which all South Africans regardless of race are allowed to vote.

Our history is long, bloody, and racist. South Africa’s apartheid system lasted nearly half a century, from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was a system that suppressed Black South Africans and where the minority white population controlled political decisions, the economy, and society. The majority of the South African population faced systematic discrimination in all facets of life, including housing, …

Why Divestment Defeated Apartheid and How It Might Help Beat Climate Change

The Money Didn’t Matter. The Movement Did

The environmental activist and writer Bill McKibben estimates that climate divestment—the movement to pressure universities, churches, and other institutions to stop investing in, and thus profiting from, carbon-emitting companies—has removed …

Is Forgiveness the Basis of a Healthy Democracy?

An Iranian Philosopher Posits That Only Absolving Others of Blame Can Open Dialogue and Rebuild Decency

Why do we have such difficulty thinking about forgiveness? Read the news on any day and you’ll find stories of war, injustices present and past, and attacks on democracy. It’s …

The Racism That Changed My Life

My L.A. Childhood Was Tough. But Seeing the Struggles of South Africans Inspired Me to Help Kids in My Own Backyard.

I first learned black history from Ms. Gilliard, my teacher at 96th Street Elementary School in Watts, who selected me to present the “I Have a Dream” speech in a …

Mandela and Tyrants: a Defense

South Africa’s Statesman Stayed Loyal To Some Nasty Friends. But His Calculations Were Not Amoral.

In late 1992, when I was a student living in China, Nelson Mandela, two years out of prison but not yet elected president, paid a visit to Beijing University. This …

Sorry L.A., Pretoria Has Better Jacarandas

Crime Specialist Angela Hawken of Pepperdine University Undergoes Interrogation in the Green Room

Angela Hawken, Ph.D. is associate professor of economics and policy analysis at the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University. A transplant from South Africa to Los Angeles, Hawken has …