How an Ethiopian slave became a South African teacher

[struggle4progress]

24 August 2011 Last updated at 20:32 ET
Sandra Rowoldt Shell
University of Cape Town

... Mr Alexander .. was a political prisoner in the 1960s, sharing Robben Island with Nelson Mandela ...

The story began on 16 September 1888, when Commander Charles E Gissing, aboard the British gunship HMS Osprey, intercepted three dhows carrying Ethiopians to the slave markets in the Arabian port of Jeddah ...

"Her real liberation was not the British warship but the education she later received in South Africa," he said.

"Equally, while on Robben Island, we turned it into a university and ensured that all the prisoners learned to read and write, to prepare them for their future lives."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14357121