Educational Media Reviews Online

In this documentary Thomas Allen Harris tells the story of his stepfather Benjamin Pule Leinaeng (Lee) and provides us with the story of a freedom fighter in exile. Lee was one of the first African National Congress (ANC) youth league members in Bloemfontein. Strongly influenced by his older brother, an active member of the ANC, Lee and his colleagues, victims of a Bantu education, decide to become part of the ANC. Later known as the Bloemfontein 12, they actively start recruiting members to the ANC youth wing.

The Bloemfontein 12 leave South Africa to set up the ANC in exile. Harris provides us with a picture of their initial struggles. The uncertainty they face in Botswana, the long walk to Tanzania and the opening of the ANC offices there. They are influenced by the independence movements within Africa and this encourages them to continue on with the struggle for South Africa. They pursue military training in Cuba and later split up to obtain an education in various parts of the world. Lee travels to Germany and then onto the United States where he meets his wife and her two sons.

This film shows how much Lee’s political beliefs, his values, and his passion as a political journalist influence his stepson. It tells the story of a man’s struggle to hold onto the belief that he will see his homeland free in his lifetime. It highlights his contribution to sustaining the struggle in the United States and providing South African exiles a home away from home by opening his own home to all of them. He is instrumental in setting up the ANC offices in New York and becomes an anti-apartheid producer for the United Nations.

As Harris tells the story of his stepfather, the viewer comes to understand the difficulties Lee faced living away from home. The loneliness, the nostalgia and the ache to return home often led him to drink more than he should have. When he left South Africa with his colleagues, it did not cross their minds that they would be in exile for 30 yrs. The struggle takes up a large part of his life and in some ways Lee is unable to fully connect with his step sons. This documentary is Harris’s tribute to his stepfather, a man who greatly influenced his life.