Reviews tagging 'Racism'

long walk to freedom by Nelson Mandela

5 reviews

antidietleah's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Racism, Confinement, and Colonisation

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Police brutality, and Death

lauren625's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Classism and Police brutality

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

heatherdavies's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced

3.75

"The momentousness of an occasion is lost in the welter of a thousand details"
I knew absolutely nothing about Nelson Mandela prior to this book. It is clear that he was a polarizing individual that ultimately was fighting for the rights of his people and then all people of South Africa to come together.

The book itself reads as an autobiography detailing Mandela's life. And as with memoirs of this nature some parts are dry, overly wordy, and contains more lists of names of people you may not know with or without context to back you up. And just like the direct quote from the book that I began with, I feel the thousand details impacted the story of his life and made it unengaging at times.

That being said if you are interested in South African history, Black history, the reality of apartheid- then of course this book would be a wonderful read. 

While I believe he was being mostly honest throughout - keep in mind this is someone narrating their life as they want you to see and perhaps missing details that would alter perception.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, War, and Violence

calybe's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Violence, Colonisation, and Police brutality

Moderate: Death of parent and Grief

meaghanelizabook's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."
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Going into this, I knew woefully little about Nelson Mandela. What an incredible, smart, resilient, moral human being he was.
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The length of this was a bit daunting at first, but it honestly was a page turner and didn't feel like a slog. It was so very interesting and enlightening. Mandela's commitment to the struggle in South Africa is inspiring. A true believer in the goodness of humankind, he never gave up his fight for freedom and equality for all races, religions, genders, and beliefs. This was absolutely worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery