{"id":878,"count":1,"description":"Dhayiah (Joe) Pillay was born in 1945 in Durban, South Africa. He is a South African anti-apartheid activist and the author of\u00a0<em>Taking Up the Spear<\/em>. Living as a refugee in exile in Swaziland in 1983, Pillay was a fellow traveler in the liberation struggle and an active member of the ANC's underground network. He recorded Shadrack Maphumulo's story over several weeks, driven by the belief that the sacrifices of ordinary people needed to be told to inspire greater awareness of the struggle against apartheid. His personal connection to the story is profound; he was a member of the underground cell that Maphumulo inadvertently compromised, forcing Pillay to flee South Africa in 1977. Despite this initial anger, Pillay becomes Maphumulo\u2019s chronicler and friend. The book reflects Pillay\u2019s commitment to documenting the lived experiences of grassroots combatants, not just the famous leaders. His role is that of a witness and a conduit, preserving a voice of relentless courage and sacrifice for posterity. The book serves as his tribute to a man he calls a true hero.","link":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/authors\/joe-pillay\/","name":"Joe Pillay","slug":"joe-pillay","taxonomy":"authors","parent":0,"meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/authors\/878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/authors"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/taxonomies\/authors"}],"wp:post_type":[{"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?authors=878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}