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Author Profiles Struggle She says it has been this way since the 1870s, when diamond min ing began in South Africa. Along with gold mining, diamond mining grew into a major industry through the labor of thousands of rural black males who were sent to the city to work ? at the expense of the black family unit "South African women were not allowed to follow the men to the cities. Because then they would establish communities," Ngcobo says. "They only wanted the labor, not the family." Some women learn to resist And They Didn't Die (1990), describes one woman's valiant efforts to exert control over her life despite the constraints of apartheid. The protagonist, Jezile, tries unsuc cessfully to live off barren land assigned to her family by the apartheid regime. Later she becomes a domestic worker in a white house hold, where she is raped and humili ated. Throughout her trials, Jezile remains determined to change her life for the better, and continues to challenge racist policy. Ngcobo says most rural South African women wouldn't think of doing the things Jezile does, such as lying to get a medical pass to leave her village, searching for her hus band in the city, and telling him that - like it or not ? she has come to be with him. "I had to release her by making her mind strong enough,** Ngcobo said, 44 and making her husband will ing to have a woman who takes decisions and informs him about her decisions. Because normally rural men wouldn't accept that." Yet Ngcobo says the absence of men in rural communities has actu ally led to the empowerment of some women. 44This migratory labor system has left women in the countryside. They run their own lives, and make decisions every day. In a sense, it has liberated them. Many men have had to relent to that power balance." Women preserved African cul ture Through the century, as men were relocated to the cities to drive the mining industry, they were faced for the first time with wholesale racial persecution. White city dwellers made it clear that black people's ways and traditions were culturally inferior. They were branded as uncivilized. "Everybody was looking down on them and down on their culture," Ngcobo says. "It was hard to believe that one human being could be so unkind to another for no apparent reason. They couldn't understand why they were so persecuted/' Since their culture seemed to be the most offending aspect about them, they began to discard their tra ditional ways. Black men in the city who tried to cling to their culture were denounced by blacks and whitesa like. But in the rural villages, African women carried on the old customs. Ngcobo says a great debt is owed to those women. "African communities have survived the whole oppressive onslaught because of the strength of these communities, which are under women." A family reunited at last Ngcobo's own past is an exam ple of family disintegration. She and her husband became political exiles after the March 21,1960 demonstrations outside Johannesburg. Thousands of South Africans assembled peacefully to protest apartheid policy requiring blacks to obtain passes for any kind of travel. During the demonstra tions, police opened fire on the crowd. Sixty-nine people were killed and thousands arrested and imprisoned, including Ngcobo's husband. By 1963, the political climate had grown even more oppressive. from page A1 She learned the police were coming to arrest her and fled the area, leav ing behind her three children. Two years later her children joined her in Swaziland. Her husband visited her but continued to work with the polit ical movement throughout South Africa. She followed him to Zambia and lived there for five years before moving to England. In 1969 her husband joined her and their children in England. "Eleven years after we were married, we were able for the first time to live as a family," she recalls solemnly. New CBC Members from page A1 Most CBC members told reporters that unemployment, sky rocketing health care costs, educa tion and urban blight top their list of concerns. However, with 13 CBC mem bers now elected from newly estab lished congressional districts in the Non- Violence Predicted For Malcolm X Audiences BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A Nebraska Wesleyan Uni versity professor doubts that Wednesday's opening of the movie Malcolm X" will lead to violence as some fear. VI don't think the life story . of Malcdm X encourages violence, wherv uAd trom start to finish/ V* said associate sociology professor David Iaquinta, who teaches a course in race relations. Iaquinta regularly uses ^The Autobiography of Malcolm X" in the course. Director Spike Lee's movie about the civil rights leader who was killed in February 1965 opens across the nation on Wednesday. Malcolm X was shot while speaking in New York City. Three members of the Nation of Islam, with whom Malcolm X had split, were convicted. Iaquinta said people who see the film will be surprised by what they don't know about Malcolm X, who was born Malcolm Little in 1925 in Omaha. When he was 3 years old, his * family moved to Milwaukee. Iaquinta said that in his early years of involvement with the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X preached black separatism. But his views changed drasti cally prior to his assassination, Iaquinta said. XNThe best kept secret is the transformation towards the end of his life, when he became disillu sioned with the black leadership of the Nation of Islam," Iaquinta said. The disillusionment was compounded by Malcolm's trip to the Middle East, where he saw peo ple of all colors who had a common belief in Islam, Iaquinta said. In Omaha, a historical marker stands on the empty lot where Malcolm X's home once stood, but residents of the neigh borhood said they were sad the city doesn't have a more elaborate trib ute. VA lot of people are letting his legacy die," said Dawn Holmes, who lives near the lot "If it wasn't for the few who are fighting, it probably would be dead,' ' she said. Residents said they would like to see flowers planted on the lot to commemorate Malcolm X. They also said citizens need to mobilize behind Rowena Moore, president and founder of the ? M.?colm X Memorial Foundation, o :;elp build a memorial center. South, "issues affecting this region are obviously going to get a lot more attention within this body/* said Rep. Kweisi Mfume of Balti more. The CBC's repeated support of proposals to '"rebuild the cities** may wo longer be considered a top prior ity, he emphasized, with every state in the "old South" now having at least one black representative and Georgia, North Carolina and Louisiana will each have two CBC members. In the 22 years since its found ing, CBC members have advanced to key positions on House of Repre sentatives committees to affect needed changes in federal policies. In the closing Congress, CBC mem bers introduced more than 400 indi vidual bills and co-sponsored an "unprecedented" 1 1 ,000 legislative measures. WE.SHIP GIFTS IF YOU WISH ? WE'LL PACKAGE THEM TOO! % No long lines ? courteous employees and extended hours. Next day service available. We handle anything from 1 to 1,000 pounds and we ship furniture too, Easy shipping at the HA*** vrr* ti" UPS - Fed. Express Services - no long lines - Extended Xmas Hoursl M-F 8 am - 9 pm; Sat. 1 0-9 Sun. 1-6; November-December Packaging Store 721-0596 Thruway Shopping Center 381 Lower Mall Drive Winston-Salem, NC 27103 Try the New king , V I- wv+vw* v < i. ' ! >JJ \ II J.i li II MiWJi pi Iflig ]!>'.. - '-; fy *??' ? ' * .. . . * ? * "? . ? . I""*' ? 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