The Namibian Review
The Namibian Review: A Journal of Contemporary South West African was first published in 1976 and came out over a decade of intensities of armed struggle and fierce debates about forms of the postcolonial future. Initially it was produced by the Namibian Review Group (known as the Swedish Namibian Association) and 14 editions were printed by the end of 1978. In 1979 it was translocated from Stockholm to Windhoek and it later changed its name to The Namibian Review: A Journal of Contemporary Namibian Affairs. Each edition had articles from a broad a political, economic, cultural, social and literary spectrum. The goal was to provide a forum for the discussion of all aspects of life in Namibia with particular emphasis on the problems of the long hard struggle towards independence. How did the work of the Namibian Review change over time to meet its goals? What was in and excluded, and how was the review and its writers/organizers read vis a vis other strands of Namibian anti-colonial movements and their allies? In gathering editions from across Africa and Europe, we engage in conversations about who holds these records of the past, and their various meanings. We first came across the journal/newsletter in conversations with the late Ottilie Abrahams, feminist, teacher, radical educator, who was part of the editorial team both in exile in Sweden and then in Windhoek. We aim to put the writings of the Namibian Review as well as its spin off/related publications, such as the Namibian Review Publications series into the context of the political life journey of this revolutionary and into broader contexts, strategies, and movement dynamics she lived with/through. This work has been part of a creative approach to African history education that builds community across the colonial imposed borders of the region. Reading together, we question what we as contemporary activists, historians and educators learn from these various intentional spaces/forms of debate, strategy, and knowledge production as we gather towards tomorrow, together.
Nashilongweshipwe Mushaandja is a performer, educator and writer.
Koni Benson is an historian, organizer, and educator. She is a lecturer in the Department of History at the University of the Western Cape.