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The Herald
23-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald
Land and justice under the spotlight at community dialogue
Frantz Fanon's vision of justice and reconciliation through the examination of the Expropriation Bill and the case of the Cradock Four was explored at a community dialogue on Tuesday night. The Herald, in collaboration with Nelson Mandela University, hosted the dialogue at the South End Museum. Organised by the Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy (Canrad), the event was facilitated by Katlego Mofokeng and had four legal experts, activists and academics, each bringing a different perspective to the floor. The panellists discussed issues around land injustice, historical accountability, and the legacy of colonialism in democratic SA. Qhawe Mbongwe, PhD candidate at NMU who analysed the role of the TRC in post-apartheid SA, said the commission failed because it did not provide more than a one-dimensional view of apartheid. 'The TRC succeeded in advocating for a narrow interpretation of the effects of apartheid, and by doing so, it acknowledged only the violations that were suffered by political activists or agents of the state. 'It effectively ignored the effects apartheid had on the broad masses of the South African population. 'Not only did the TRC's final report downplay apartheid — the crime against humanity — but proceeded to demonstrate limited understanding of the legal machinery through which this crime was perpetuated under the disguise of the rule of law. 'Furthermore, the TRC's definition of human rights violations was narrow and restricted. 'Apartheid, as a system of oppression, did not target the bodily integrity of a population group defined as Bantu, but their means of livelihood, land and labour. It did not oppress or violate people individually, but collectively. 'We have seen how the works of Frantz Fanon continue to shape historical epochs in the Third World. 'All over the colonial world, Fanon remains a symbol of resistance, justice and decolonisation,' he said. Sibusiso Thwala, specialist and director of NexGen Leadership Solutions, highlighted the issues around settlers in SA and colonialism. 'Land is not merely about hectares or title deeds. In SA, land holds memory, identity, dignity and economy. It is our connection to history, to each other, and to ourselves. 'Frantz Fanon reminds us: 'For a colonised people, the most essential value, because it is the most concrete, is first and foremost the land: the land which will bring them bread and, above all, dignity.' 'Colonialism didn't just steal land, it reshaped identities, distorted truths, and dictated whose life mattered. So Fanon's idea of revolutionary justice is not simply retribution, it is reconstruction. 'It demands that we ask: Who owns? Who decides? Who heals? Who benefits? Without changing these foundations, the oppressed remain colonised under a different flag,' he said. The last speaker of the evening, Zandi Radebe, shared some insight on the struggle songs used during apartheid, and through the use of amagwijo (liberation songs), she explained how these traditions reflect different ideological approaches to land, memory and justice. 'I chose amagwijo because I want to speak to how ordinary community members, mainly the rank and file, what some people call the masses of the movement, thought about the liberation struggle, and most importantly, how they felt. 'Amagwijo allows us to access the structure of feelings among the people in whose names the liberation was fought,' Radebe said. The Herald
The Hindu
22-07-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Frantz Fanon at 100: the teachings of the 20th century thinker and psychiatrist remain chillingly contemporary
As we mark the centenary of his birth, Frantz Fanon's voice resonates with a more urgent clarity than ever before — within universities, on streets, and within the innermost consciousness of those compelled to defy the enduring legacies of empire. A French-trained psychiatrist of Martinican origin, Fanon [1925-1961] later became an Algerian revolutionary, standing as one of the most influential and contested intellectuals of the post-World War era. While he was often caricatured, as a mere 'apostle of violence', in the words of Edward Said, a closer reading of his work reveals a rigorous and nuanced humanist, deeply committed to confronting injustice. Traumas of colonisation For me, Fanon has never been simply an author to teach; he is a thinker whose work unremittingly demands engagement, offering a framework through which to confront the complexities of our world. My introduction to the spirit behind his book, The Wretched of the Earth (1963), came not from a formal academic curriculum, but from the profound moral unrest and social upheavals that surrounded me. In those moments, traditional classrooms seemed to perpetuate silence and complicity, failing to provide a language to effectively address the structural violence and systemic discriminations that existed beyond their walls. It was Fanon, the intransigent revolutionary idealist, who gave me and my generation a vocabulary for that dissonance. Later, as I began teaching postcolonial cultural theory, The Wretched and his earlier book, Black Skins, White Masks,transcended their role as mere texts, instead serving as a catalyst to unsettle the sterile academic environment and confront the harsh realities of colonial distress, while simultaneously igniting deep undying hope. His work in Algeria powerfully exposed the psychological and political violence of French colonial rule, a dual perspective of a psychiatrist tending to the psychic traumas inflicted by colonisation, and a revolutionary theorist unflinchingly diagnosing the structural afflictions of empire and 'the systematic negation of the other'. Challenging power structures For students in India, Palestine, Africa, and beyond, his ideas, therefore, do not remain mere abstractions. In recent years, many across the world see in his writings a mirror to their own condition of militarised occupation, psychic ordeal, and a yearning for self-expression. In classroom conversations about Gaza, Fanon's examination of the coloniser's violence and the colonised's rage feels chillingly contemporary, when confronted by the vexing question: why, if people of Gaza are dying in such horrific numbers, does Israel persist in its relentless bombardment? As Fanon would have answered, colonial violence is rarely about territorial control; it is theatrical, a grotesque display of supremacy, a ritualised annihilation feeding on breaking the human spirit. Similarly, the immigrant detention system in the United States is precisely based on Fanon's view of colonialism as a system of compartmentalisation, of dividing, isolating, and controlling bodies based on race, geography, and power. This is why Fanon cannot be treated as a mere historical figure, frozen in 1961, the year he died. His centenary is not a commemoration but a confrontation at a time when the right-wing assault on universities intensifies, as dissent stands criminalised and academic freedom widely curtailed. Fanon offers not comfort but clarity, with a reminder that the university itself is a site of contestation where knowledge and power intersect and where dominant narratives reinforce existing power structures. However, universities also offer a platform for resistance, critique and transformation. His famous dictum that 'Each generation must discover its mission, fulfil it or betray it' is a challenge that we must pass on to our students. The questions remain Understandably, Fanon's insistence on agency resonates powerfully with Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968), another formative text in the intellectual journey of many radical activists. Like Fanon, Freire had emphasised that liberation is not a gift bestowed from above but a mutual process of becoming, through what he called conscientização, the practice of dialogue, critical consciousness, and praxis. Under their influence, the classroom ceased to be a sterile, apolitical space and revealed itself as a site of struggle where dominant ideologies nudge each other and where students do not remain passive recipients but turn into insurgent co-authors of knowledge and their own histories. Fanon, as we all know, wrote in a time of war, exile, and revolutionary ferment. We, too, live in a time of mass displacement, resurgent fascism, and intellectual repression. His questions remain ours, challenging us to think critically about power, identity and freedom, encouraging us to strive for a world where individuals and communities can flourish without the shackles of oppression. His contemporary relevance is both clear and compelling. The writer taught postcolonial cultural theory at Panjab University.
Express Tribune
21-07-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
Remembering Algeria's Frantz Fanon 100 years after his birth
Frantz Fanon is regarded as a crucial figure of early anti-colonial and anti-racist theory. For Algerians, he is one of the heroes of the country's struggle for independence. Yet his role during the war against France and his writings remain largely unknown to a wider public, reports DW. July 20, 2025, marked the 100th anniversary of his birth. Fanon was not granted a long life: At just 36, he died of leukemia in 1961 without ever witnessing Algerian independence, a goal he devoted his life to. His work is "a reflection on the concept of solidarity, understanding what solidarity means in a moment of war, of resistance," Mireille Fanon Mendès France told DW. She is Fanon's eldest daughter and co-chair of the international Frantz Fanon Foundation. She says she barely knew her father and retains few childhood memories of him, but as a teenager, she immersed herself in her father's literary work. Fanon's writings made it clear that the struggle for Algerian independence not only benefited Algeria, but was also about African unity. "And this African unity is still not there," his daughter explains. In her Paris apartment, Alice Cherki goes through old documents from her youth during Algeria's war of independence against France: "I knew then that it was colonialism," she recalls. Now 89, she knew Frantz Fanon well. She worked alongside him in the 1950s as an intern at the psychiatric clinic in Blida, Algeria. Fanon was the head of the psychiatric department and not only cared for the sick but also helped Algerian nationalists. "We took in the wounded, the fighters who came here," Cherki said. Fanon set up a supposed day clinic within the hospital, only for show. In reality, he secretly took in the wounded and those who needed to recover, Cherki told DW. Committed to the cause Born in the French colony of Martinique, Fanon grew up in a French colonial society and was deeply influenced by his experiences: He volunteered for World War Two for France at the age of 17. As a Black man though, he experienced daily racism in the French army. After the war, he studied medicine and philosophy in France and later moved with his wife Josie to Blida in French-Algeria, where he became chief physician of the psychiatric clinic. From the beginning of the war in 1954, Fanon was helping Algerian nationalists while continuing to work as a psychiatrist. He established contacts with several officers of the National Liberation Army as well as with the political leadership of the National Liberation Front (FLN), especially its influential members Abane Ramdane and Benyoucef Benkhedda. From 1956 on, he was fully committed to the "Algerian cause." Fanon wrote some of the most influential texts of the anti-colonial movement, like his early work Black Skin, White Masks about the psychological effects of racism and colonialism on Black people. His most important book though was The Wretched of the Earth where he focuses on revolutionary action and national liberation. The book was published with a foreword by Jean-Paul Sartre shortly before his death in 1961. On July 5, 1962, Algeria gained independence after an eight-year armed struggle against the then-colonial power, France. Historians estimate the number of Algerian deaths at 500,000; according to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, approximately 25,000 soldiers lost their lives. Anissa Boumediene is a writer, lawyer, and former First Lady of Algeria. She was the wife of President Houari Boumediene, who ruled the country from 1965 to 1978. "Frantz Fanon is part of Algerian history. He defended independence. He was truly an infinitely respectable person," she told DW. Two new films - Fanon by Jean-Claude Barny, released in April 2025, and Frantz Fanon by Algerian director Abdenour Zahzah, released in 2024 - are intended to keep his memory and his anti-colonial theories alive.
DW
20-07-2025
- Health
- DW
Frantz Fanon: Algeria's independence hero 100 years on – DW – 07/20/2025
Frantz Fanon was one of the major anti-colonial thinkers of the 20th century and a hero of the Algerian liberation movement. He died just before Algeria's independence from France. Fanon would have turned 100 on July 20. Fanon is regarded as a crucial figure of early anti-colonial and anti-racist theory. For Algerians, he is one of the heroes of the country's struggle for independence. Yet his role during the war against France and his writings remain largely unknown to a wider public. July 20, 2025, marks the 100th anniversary of his birth. Fanon was not granted a long life: At just 36, he died of leukemia in 1961 without ever witnessing Algerianindependence, a goal he devoted his life to. His work is "a reflection on the concept of solidarity, understanding what solidarity means in a moment of war, of resistance," Mireille Fanon Mendès France told DW. She is Fanon's eldest daughter and co-chair of the international Frantz Fanon Foundation. She says she barely knew her father and retains few childhood memories of him, but as a teenager, she immersed herself in her father's literary work. Fanon's writings made it clear that the struggle for Algerian independence not only benefited Algeria, but was also about African unity. "And this African unity is still not there," his daughter explains. In her Paris apartment, Alice Cherki goes through old documents from her youth during Algeria's war of independence against France: "I knew then that it was colonialism," she recalls. Now 89, she knew Frantz Fanon well. She worked alongside him in the 1950s as an intern at the psychiatric clinic in Blida, Algeria. Frantz Fanon was the head of the psychiatric department and not only cared for the sick but also helped Algerian nationalists. "We took in the wounded, the fighters who came here," Cherki said. Fanon set up a supposed day clinic within the hospital, only for show. In reality, he secretly took in the wounded and those who needed to recover, Cherki told DW. Born in the French colony of Martinique, Fanon grew up in a French colonial society and was deeply influenced by his experiences: He volunteered for World War Two for France at the age of 17. As a Black man though, he experienced daily racism in the French army. After the war, he studied medicine and philosophy in France and later moved with his wife Josie to Blida in French-Algeria, where he became chief physician of the psychiatric clinic. From the beginning of the war in 1954, Frantz Fanon was helping Algerian nationalists while continuing to work as a psychiatrist. He established contacts with several officers of the National Liberation Army as well as with the political leadership of the National Liberation Front (FLN), especially its influential members Abane Ramdane and Benyoucef Benkhedda. From 1956 on, he was fully committed to the "Algerian cause." Amzat Boukari Yabara is a historian and author of the 2014 book "Africa Unite," which traces the history of Pan-Africanism. He emphasizes the significance of Fanon's resignation from his position as a doctor in the fall of 1956. "By this time, he had already made contact with several FLN members and would later go to Tunis, where an FLN branch was established," explains Yabara. "From Tunis, he participated in the struggle by writing for the FLN newspaper El Moudjahid under a pseudonym. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he became ambassador of the provisional government of the Algerian Republic – the government-in-exile of the FLN – in Accra, a traveling ambassador for sub-Saharan Africa." Frantz Fanon wrote some of the most influential texts of the anti-colonial movement, like his early work "Black skin, white masks" about the psychological effects of racismand colonialism on Black people. His most important book though was "The Wretched of the Earth" where he focuses on revolutionary action and national liberation. The book was published with a foreword by Jean-Paul Sartre shortly before his death in 1961. On July 5, 1962, Algeria gained independence after an eight-year armed struggle against the then-colonial power, France. Historians estimate the number of Algerian deaths at 500,000; according to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, approximately 25,000 soldiers lost their lives. Anissa Boumediene is a writer, lawyer, and former First Lady of Algeria. She was the wife of President Houari Boumediene, who ruled the country from 1965 to 1978. "Frantz Fanon is part of Algerian history. He defended independence. He was truly an infinitely respectable person," she told DW. But even in Algeria, 64 years after his death, his memory should not be taken for granted, says journalist Lazhari Labter, who translated Fanon's writings into Algerian Arabic. "Today's generations have become increasingly ignorant of the history of their country, and especially of this subject," he explains. "And of course, apart from very small circles, apart from universities and intellectuals, the name Fanon doesn't mean much to younger generations. This may be because his works are not taught in schools, high schools, or universities." Two new films – "Fanon" by Jean-Claude Barny, released in April 2025, and "Frantz Fanon" by Algerian director Abdenour Zahzah, released in 2024 – are intended to keep his memory and his anti-colonial theories alive.
France 24
18-07-2025
- Health
- France 24
Frantz Fanon: From Martinique to Algeria, the journey of an anti-colonialist
Frantz Fanon, an anti-colonial and anti-racist icon, didn't hold back. During his short life, he spared no effort to fight for, as he put it: "the cause of the people, the cause of justice and freedom." World War II: The Awakening At just 18 years old, he left his native Martinique to voluntarily join Charles de Gaulle 's Free French Forces. The young soldier was decorated for his service, risking his life to fight the Nazis. But the recognition was superficial: Black people were subjected to racism, both in the military and in civilian life. He felt disillusioned – in France, his heroism mattered less than the colour of his skin. Years on the 'mainland' After studying medicine in Lyon, Fanon published his first book. "Black Skin, White Masks" examines colonialist constructs, in an attempt to break free from them. That same year, he completed his psychiatry internship at Saint-Alban, in Lozère, alongside François Tosquelles. This Spanish anti-fascist political refugee introduced him to an innovative practice of social therapy – a means of treating mental health patients with dignity. Life in French Algeria In 1953, Fanon was sent to French Algeria. At just 28, he became chief physician at the hospital in Blida. Following Tosquelles's principles, he transformed his department and revolutionised what was at the time a racist and morally bankrupt form of colonial psychiatry. At the same time, he became involved in the Algerian revolution, treating wounded fighters. In December 1956, he resigned from his hospital position and moved to newly independent Tunisia. There, he continued his work as a psychiatrist, contributed to the FLN (National Liberation Front) newspaper El Moudjahid, and represented Algeria at Pan-African conferences. Fanon would not live to see the outcome of his struggle. He died of leukaemia in 1961 at the age of 36, one year before Algeria gained independence. A hundred years after his birth in Fort-de-France in 1925, Fanon remains a powerful anti-racist and anti-colonial reference for intellectuals, artists and activists around the world.
