Ezekiel Mphahlele

Es'kia Mphahlele Es'kia Mphahlele (17 December 1919 – 27 October 2008) was a South African writer, educationist, artist and activist celebrated as the Father of African Humanism and one of the founding figures of modern African literature. Quotes The Black man must enter the white man's house through the back door. The Black man does most of the dirty work. Black man cleans the streets but mustn't walk freely on the pavement; Black man must build houses for the white man but cannot live in them; Black man cooks the white man's food but eats what is left over. Reflecting on the realities of racial segregation and apartheid in South Africa in his autobiographical work, Down Second Avenue (1959). It is not right for us today to write off our past generations and pretend that history began when we were born. Discussing the importance of preserving historical memory and maintaining a connection with earlier generations. School knowledge and activity should reinforce our need for one another; it should reconfirm our traditional compassion and impulse to share. Explaining the role of education in strengthening African values of community, cooperation, and mutual responsibility. We need to know our Afrika intimately, even while we tune into the world at large. It was my impressions in Britain that threw up into relief my thoughts on what I choose to call the African image, and I yielded to the inner compulsion to put them down on paper. Explaining the intellectual origins of The African Image and how his experiences abroad influenced his reflections on African identity. The African creative writer must both interpret his world imaginatively and act as a political man. Discussing what he regarded as the dual responsibility of African writers in modern society. External links Category:1919 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Authors from South Africa