La Mediación

Summary of the book “Cry Freedom“from John Briley

Donald Woods is the editor of the newspaper Daily Dispatch from East London in South Africa. One day he publishes an article about a policeraid in a black township called Crossroads and also prints some photos, which the government doesn’t allow. Together with the article he also publishes an editorial accusing the young black manSteve Biko of racism. Some days later Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, a young black woman, comes to his office to convince him of seeing Biko in order to getting to know better his ideas.

Woods meetsBiko in a church where Biko wants to make a centre for black people. They change opinions about the situation of the blacks in South Africa and go to a clinic for black people, where Dr.Ramphele is working. At the end of the visit Biko invites Donald to go to a black township one day to see how the black people live. Woods became conscious that Biko isn’t a racist person; he onlywants that everyone in South Africa can live in equality.

When they go to the black township they have dinner with a black family. Biko tells Woods about how the whites came to South Africa andwhat consequences it meant for the black people. A few weeks later Woods contracts Tenjy Mtintso and Mapetla Mohapi in his newspaper, two black friends of Biko.

Mapetla takes Woods and Ken,who works in the newspaper, to a football match of black people. But instead of the football match Steve Biko is there and holds a speech. After this he is caught by the police because of aninformant of the government, but they can’t do anything against him.

One night some policemen enter in the church where Steve Biko was making a centre for blacks and destroy everything that isvaluable.. Woods travels to Pretoria to see the Minister of Police and talk with him about this. The minister says that he would pursue it, because he doesn’t like corruption in the police.