How Far We Slaves Have Come!: South Africa and Cuba in Today's World [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Nelson Mandela (Author), Fidel Castro (Author), Mary-Alice Waters (Designer)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1992

Speaking together in Cuba in 1991, Mandela and Castro discuss the place in the history of Africa of Cuba and Angola’s victory over the invading U.S.-backed South African army, and the resulting acceleration of the fight to bring down the racist apartheid system.

Also available in: Spanish; Farsi

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The speeches are both tributes to the Cuban people for their internationalist aid to the anti-apartheid struggle and to the vanguard role of the African National Congress and, at the distance of almost two decades, Mandela's speech has shown great staying power." --Book News --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 83 pages
• Publisher: Pathfinder Press (NY); 1 edition (February 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873484975
• ISBN-13: 978-0873484978
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,541,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nelson Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa, on July 18, 1918. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's apartheid policies after 1948. He was incarcerated at Robben Island prison from 1964 to 1982 and then moved to Pollsmoor Prison, during which time his reputation as a potent symbol of resistance to apartheid grew steadily. Released from prison in 1990, Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was inaugurated as the first democratically elected president of South Africa in 1994. He is the author of the international bestseller LONG WALK TO FREEDOM.



Author photograph by Andrew Zuckerman © Nelson Mandela Foundation

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A necessary book for any revolutionary!, April 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: How Far We Slaves Have Come! South Africa and Cuba in Today's World (Paperback)

FROM THE BACK COVER:

On July 26, 1991, Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro spoke together at a rally of tens of thousands in Matanzas, Cuba. This book contains their speeches at that historic event. "There can be no greater cause in our era," Castro says, "than the one headed by the ANC." In Mandela's words, the role of Cuban internationalist volunteers in defeating South Africa's invasion of Angola was an "unparalleled contribution to African independence, freedom, and justice."

The struggles being waged by the people of South Africa and Cuba are today the most important examples for those everywhere seeking to rid the earth of racism and exploitation. Mandela and Castro explain why.

"We will ensure that sooner rather than later the poor and rightless will rule the land of their birth." (Nelson Mandela) "Where did injustice and inequality come from? Where did poverty and underdevelopment com from? Where did all these calamities come from if not from capitalism?" (Fidel Castro)

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Untold Facts, August 19, 2005

By 

Michele M. Preciado "Son" (San Antonio, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Far We Slaves Have Come! South Africa and Cuba in Today's World (Paperback)

What facts untold and blind to the American population is that Nelson Mandela needed not to turn to the United States for aid in the battle for the spread of white supremacy because the leaders of the United States had already taken a side in this battle.
The side of inhumanity.

What is often not known is the truth in whom supported South Africa and funded South Africa in its spread of Apartheid, The United States of America. Knowingly, under the Presidency/Administration of Ronald Reagan.

There is a reason as to why Fidel Castro opposes Capitalism and United States methods:

1.Capitalism is a system unfit for humanity and is impossible to succeed globally as many people blindly and ignorantly believe. If this was truth, then why do we witness United States presence in so many countries world-wide, yet their economy and way of life has yet to improve under United States authority and rule? It is up to you to stand on the side of human beings, analyze communism, and stay on a base of neutrality until you begin to find out the truth of how this world has been functioning in all time leading to now.

2.The support for Apartheid is among the many inhumane acts the United States has participated in, in the last 200 years, both within the nation and outside the nation.

3.It was under United States aid to former dictator of Cuba Fulgencio Batista that all of Cuba was run by a corrupt mob-authority that constantly brutalized the Cuban population. All wealth from Cuba was directed to the United States and not enough to the people of Cuba whom it belonged to. Cuba was a third world nation before the start of the Cuban Revolution and is still one today, but the improvements and continued improvements are remarkable. Cuba would be ever more successful...well tremendously more succesful if the United States dropped its 40[I believe] year illegal economic blockade on Cuba which is against the Geneva conventions and which has been voted several times in the United Nations as a cruel policy which is genocidal. Most recently, in the U.N., 173 countries voted against it while 3 voted for it. This economic blockade is no way to bring THE PRESIDENT OF CUBA to his knees. It affects entirely the citizens of Cuba. The United States does this so that in hopes to crush the Cuban Revolution because it inspires other third world nations to rid themselves of cruel rule and imperial control and because it wants Cuba to become once again, a slave to the interest of the United States.

Here are the results of whom voted opposing the economic blockade: Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde Islands, Cameroon, Chad, Comoro Islands, Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Equatorial, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Central African Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Dominica, Ecuador, Granada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, The Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Fiji, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, PDR Korea, South Korea, Samoa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor, Tonga, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, Kiribati, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakstan, Kyrgystan, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Macedonia, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Poland, United Kingdom, San Marino, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Moldavia, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ukraine.

And countries that voted for the economic blockade: The United States, Israel, and the Marshall Islands.

If you do not believe all that I have said, look it up for yourself. I urge you to do so.

I myself choose the side of truth. And a system that promotes humanity. The immense majority of the world, not the few.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hidden history of Cuba's role in Southern Africa, March 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: How Far We Slaves Have Come! South Africa and Cuba in Today's World (Paperback)

Did you know that Cuba played a crucial role in the successful battle to end racist apartheid in South Africa? Probably not. In the United States, this is a non-fact. "How Far We Slaves Have Come" breaks the curtain of silence about these dramatic events. And it does so in the words of two of the principal figures involved -- Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro. They describe how combined Cuban and Angolan military forces defeated the South African army, which had invaded Angola, at the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. An army of Blacks and mestizos crushing the army of South Africa -- the supposed all-powerful bastion of white supremacy? This was not supposed to happen!

Coming after years of resistance and struggle by Blacks in South Africa, their defeat at Cuito Cuanavale demoralized the apartheid regime. As Nelson Mandela says in the book, "The defeat of the apartheid army was an inspiration to the struggling people inside South Africa! Without Cuito Cuanavale our organizations would not have been unbanned!...Cuito Cuanavale has been a turning point in the struggle to free the continent and our country from the scourge of apartheid!"

If you're interested in South Africa, Cuba, or just in history you're not supposed to know, you should read this book.