About the book

The Class of ‘44’, the founders of the African National Congress Youth League (CYL) in 1944, includes a remarkable list of names: Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Anton Lembede, and Ashby Peter (A.P.) Mda. While much has been written on the others, relatively little attention has been paid to Mda, the Youth League president from 1947 to 1947 whom his peers regarded as the foremost political intellectual and strategist of their generation. He was known for his passionate advocacy of African nationalism, guiding the ANC into militant forms of protest, and pressing activists to consider turning to armed struggle in the early 1950s.

In his late teens Mda began leaving a rich written record—through letters and essays in newspapers, political tracts and speeches, and letters to colleagues—that allows us to chart the evolution of his views throughout his life not only on politics but also on culture, language, literature, music, religion, and education.

About the authors

Robert Edgar is Professor of African Studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He has taught as a visiting professor at the University

of Virginia, Georgetown University, the National University of Lesotho, the University of Cape Town and the University of the Western Cape. He specialises in modern religious and political movements in southern Africa. Among his works are An African American in South Africa: The Travel Notes of Ralph Bunche (1992), African Apocalypse: The story of Nontetha Nkwenkwe (20) (coauthored with Hilary Sapire) and The Making of an African Communist: Edwin Mofutsanyana and the Communist Party of South Africa, 1927–1939 (26). He is currently co-editing a two-volume documentary history of African American relations with South Africa.

Luyanda ka Msumza was born in King Williams Town in the Eastern Cape and completed high school at Mzomhle High School in 1976. After becoming involved in the student uprisings of the time, he went into exile in Lesotho in 1978. In 1982, he left for the United Kingdom where he was trained as an aircraft maintenance engineer at Oxford Air Training School, just outside Oxford. After returning to Lesotho, he worked for the Transformation Resources Centre until 1987 when he moved to Zimbabwe and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He went to the United States where he received a Master of Science Degree in International Community Economic Development from New Hampshire College in 1988 and worked for a student organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Returning to South Africa in December 1990 after almost 13 years in exile, he enrolled for an Honours degree in History at the University of Cape Town which he received in 1993. Since then, he has worked for organisations on peace and development issues in various parts of South Africa. He is presently based in the United States.

Contents

About the authors

Acknowledgements

PART 1: THE LIFE OF A.P. MDA

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Early years

Chapter 3 From Cape liberalism to African nationalism

Chapter 4 Of mealie pap and hope: African teachers’ protest

Chapter 5 The founding of the ANC Youth League, 9 April 1944

Chapter 6 Xuma’s ‘kindergarten’

Chapter 7 Fort Hare

Chapter 8 The 1948 election and the Programme of Action

Chapter 9 The Youth League and Inkundla ya Bantu

Chapter 10 The road to Bloemfontein Chapter 11 Going to Mecca

Chapter 12 The ‘back-room boy’

Chapter 13 The Analysis

Chapter 14 Herschel

Chapter 15 The founding of the Pan Africanist Congress

Chapter 16 Into exile: Basutoland

Chapter 17 Mda and the law

PART 2: THE WRITINGS OF A.P. MDA Document 1 The Xhosa Language Document 2 Breach of Faith Document 3 Here and There Document 4 The Giant Congress

Document 5 Stabbing and Murder Among

Africans

Document 6 Bantu Organisations Document 7 All African Convention Document 8 A.N. Congress and A.A. Convention

Document 9 African National Congress 16th– 19th December, 1937 Jubilee Celebration at Bloemfontein

Document 10 The Parliamentary Elections Document 11 African Nationalism and the Call Document 12 Non-European United Front

Regarded as United Bluff

Document 13 Scrappy Views on N.U.S.A.S. Decision

Document 14 C.A.U. Central Office News and Activities

Document 15 Report of Communist Activities Among the Natives in Johannesburg

Document 16 A Degree behind one’s dear Name, may ‘undo’ the Same individual Curious Isn’t it

Document 17 A.P. Mda, The Rate of Progress Document 18 Matters Musical

Document 19 A.M. Lembede, M.A., LL.B. A Signal Achievement

Document 20 Ishra, African National Congress – I

Document 21 Ishra, African National Congress – II

Document 22 Ishra, African National Congress – III Document 23 A Great Bantu Music Composer

Document 24 Johannesburg News

Document 25 Here and There

Document 26 Great Bantu Music

Composers no. 2

Document 27 Here and There

Document 28 Ishra, African National Congress Document 29 Ishra, African National

Congress (Transvaal)

Document 30 The Achievement of Dr. B.W. VILAKAZI, M.A., D.Litt

Document 31 The Church and the Poor:

A Catholic African Gives His Views Document 32 Mr. Barlow and the Africans Document 33 African Academy of Arts Document 34 Congress Must Decide Now Document 35 Youth League Fetes Scholar Document 36 Smuts as ‘Friend of the Native’ Document 37 The Late A.M. Lembede, M.A.,

(Phil) LL.B.

Document 38 Council Should Act

Document 39 Congress Youth League Document 40 Democritus, Wanted: A New Congress?

Document 41 African National Congress Youth League Bulletin No. 1 (1947)

Document 42 Ishra Discusses A.N.C.

Conference

Document 43 Smuts’ Proposal an African Tragedy

Document 44 Election Challenge to African Leaders

Document 45 Letter to Editor

Document 46 Youth League President Replies Document 47 Whither Richard G. Baloyi Document 48 Letter, A.P. Mda to Godfrey Pitje,

24 August 1948

Document 49 A Correction

Document 50 Letter, A.P. Mda to Godfrey Pitje, 10 September 1948

Document 51 Letter, A.P. Mda to Godfrey Pitje, 15 September 1948

Document 52 Mr. Mda Replies to Kanyisa Document 53 What African Nationalism Is Document 54 Letter, A.P. Mda to Joe

Matthews, 13 October 1948

Document 55 Letter, A.P. Mda to Godfrey Pitje, 10 November 1948

Document 56 A Complaint, Sir

Document 57 The NRC and Adjournment Document 58 Congress Youth League South Africa

Document 59 Congress Youth President on ‘African Nationalists’

Document 60 Another Nationalist, A.P. Mda’s Advice

Document 61 Statement

Document 62 Letter, A.P. Mda to Godfrey Pitje, 27 May 1949

Document 63 African Nationalism. Is it a Misnomer?

Document 64 Congress at the Crossroads

Document 65 Address by Congress Youth President to African National Congress (Cape Province), New Brighton, 26 June 1949

Document 66 Mr. Thema’s Address at Port Elizabeth

Document 67 Letter, A.P. Mda to Victor Sifora, 20 July 1949

Document 68 Statement to the Youth League of Congress

Document 69 1949 Programme of the

Congress Youth League

Document 70 Letter, A.P. Mda to Godfrey Pitje, 10 November 1949

Document 71 Ishra, What Next?

Document 72 The Proposed Cultural

Conference

Document 73 Letter, A.P. Mda to Z.K.

Matthews, 6 December 1949 Document 74 Congress Youth President’s

Statement

Document 75 Fort Hare and the A.N.C. Document 76 Ishra, Congress Elections and other Matters

Document 77 Comment on Programme of (1949) African Nationalism

Document 78 The Analysis, Treason Trial Records

Document 79 Letter, A.P. Mda to Son of Africa, 3 May 1952

Document 80 Special Fighting Bulletin Document 81 The Bureau of African Nationalism

Document 82 Jordan Ngubane

Document 83 Sandile, African Youth and the Pictorials

Document 84 Sandile, Some Targets to be

Aimed at in Art and Literature

Document 85 Factors ‘which’ prefaced the rise

of African Nationalism

Document 86 umAfrika, Anton Lembede – III Document 87 Zwelakhe, Africa for the Africans Document 88 Legal Status of the South African

White State

Document 89 Notes on the Pass Laws Document 90 A Bumpy Road to Black Unity Document 91 The Eminent Persons Group’s

Visit and the Principled Approach Thereof Document 92 The Path of Liberation,

Bulletin No. 4

Document 93 The Path of Liberation, Bulletin No. 6

Document 94 The Path of Liberation, Bulletin No. 7

Document 95 The Path of Liberation, Sixth Comment

Document 96 The Path of Liberation, Seventh Comment

Document 97 The Voice of Revolutionary Africa. Chapter C

Document 98 The Voice of New Revolutionary Africa. Chapter D

PART 3: REFLECTIONS ON THE LEGACY OF AP MDA

The Meaning of A.P. Mda to Africa and his Contribution to South Africa in the 21st Century

Notes

Bibliography

Index