Nat Nakasa

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Nathaniel Ndazana Nakasa (born May 12, 1937 in Lusikisiki , South Africa , † July 14, 1965 in New York ), known as Nat Nakasa, was a South African journalist and writer .

Life

Nakasa was the second of three children from Joseph and Alvina Nakasa and grew up in poor conditions, so that in 1954 he had to leave school without a qualification. Even so, he got a job as a journalist with the Ilanda newspaper in Durban . He moved to the Golden City Post in Johannesburg and became a journalist for Drum magazine , which he eventually became deputy editor. Nakasa was the first black man to write a column for the Rand Daily Mail . In 1963 he founded the literary magazine The Classic, for which Nakasa's colleague Can Themba wrote articles. At that time, Nakasa also worked with Nadine Gordimer .

In 1964 he received a Nieman scholarship to study journalism at Harvard College , Cambridge , Massachusetts , USA. The South African government refused to give him a passport, so that he could only leave the country with an exit permit and thus not return. Nakasa soon discovered that there were racist attitudes among US academics too . After the end of his academic year, he moved to New York and worked as a freelance journalist, including for the New York Times . He felt isolated and homesick. He committed suicide by throwing himself out of a skyscraper in New York.

Burial and reburial

Nakasa was at the initiative of the South African, also exiled musicians Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Westchester County in the State of New York buried, are buried in the many other celebrities. 30 years later, the Nieman Foundation had a simple memorial stone erected on his grave. In May 2014, an application was made to transfer his body to South Africa. According to statements by the South African government, the US authorities granted the application. He was reburied on September 13, 2014 - almost 50 years after his death - in a "Heroes Cemetery" near Durban. The Prime Minister of KwaZulu-Natal Province and Zulu leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi were among those present .

Posthumous awards

  • The Print Media Association, the South African Nieman Alumni and the South African National Editors' Forum created the Nat Nakasa Award for Courageous Journalism in 1998 .
  • In 2007 Nakasa was awarded the Silver Order of Ikhamanga .

Works

  • The World of Nat Nakasa: selected writings of the late Nat Nakasa. Edited by Essop Patel. Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1971, ISBN 0-86975-050-X .

literature

  • Mike Nicol : Good-looking Corpse: World of Drum - Jazz and Gangsters, Hope and Defiance in the Townships of South Africa. Secker & Warburg, London 1991, ISBN 0-436-30986-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f portrait at sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on June 29, 2014
  2. ↑ a b Appreciation for the award of the Order of Ikhamanga (English), accessed on June 29, 2014
  3. ↑ US bid to repatriate Nakasa's remains. Times Live, May 18, 2014, accessed June 20, 2014
  4. ↑ Nat Nakasa reburied. news24.com of September 13, 2014 (English), accessed on September 13, 2014
  5. ↑ Description at mediaweb.co.za (English), accessed on June 29, 2014
  6. ↑ Portrait of the first recipient, Jon Qwelane (English, PDF), accessed on June 29, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Nakasa, Nat
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nakasa, Nathaniel Ndazana (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African journalist and writer
DATE OF BIRTH May 12, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Lusikisiki
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 1965
Place of death New York City