Amy Biehl and the ANC: A Scholar-Activist in South Africa, 1992—93

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the twenty years since her death in South Africa in 1993, American Fulbright scholar Amy Biehl has been memorialised in numerous ways – by a historical marker in Gugulethu, a novel and play by Sindiwe Magona (Mother to Mother, 1998 and 2009), a documentary film on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Long Night's Journey Into Day 2000), and the continuing work of the Amy Biehl Foundation. Biehl's death was among the most highly publicized killings in the turbulent period before South Africa's first democratic election in 1994. Although the circumstances of her death were widely reported – she was attacked by a group of militant black students chanting anti-white slogans as she was giving several black friends a ride home – relatively little was revealed about her activities in South Africa before her death. This article outlines Biehl's work in South Africa in 1992–1993 and shows that she forged close ties with leading members of the African National Congress (ANC) and did substantive research on the role of black women in South Africa's transition to democracy. In documenting her work, the article also reveals how Biehl tried to balance the roles of scholar, activist and outsider during a crucial period in South Africa's recent history.