Joe Slovo, born on this day in 1926, was a South African communist politician and miliant opponent of the apartheid system whose wife, Ruth First, was assassinated by the South African police.
A Marxist-Leninist, Slovo was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Communist Party (SACP), a leading member of the African National Congress (ANC), and a commander of the ANC's military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).
Joe Slovo was born in Lithuania in 1926 and moved to South Africa with his parents at the age of nine. His father was a van driver in Johannesburg, and Slovo worked as a dispatch clerk for a chemist while studying law at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree and Bachelor of Laws degree.
Slovo was an active member of the South Africa Communist Party (SACP) from the 1940s and, after becoming an advocate at the Johannesburg Bar, became well known for his work as a defence lawyer in political trials.
He married Ruth First, daughter of SACP treasurer Julius First, in 1949. The following year the couple was among the first 600 people 'named' in terms of the Suppression of Communism Act, and thereby subjected to various restrictions.
Slovo was a founding member of the Congress of Democrats in 1953 and represented the organisation on the national consultative committee of the Congress Alliance created at the time of the call for a Congress of the People. In 1954, he was banned from attending all gatherings under the Suppression of Communism Act, but continued his political activities covertly.
Slovo contributed to the drafting of the Freedom Charter, but was unable to attend the Congress of the People in Kliptown because of his restriction order. He watched the proceedings through binoculars from a nearby rooftop.
In December 1956 Slovo, together with other Congress activists, was charged with treason. He acted as a member of the defence team as well as being an accused. During the preparatory examination of the Treason Trial, as it came to be known, he was charged for contempt of court when objecting to the magistrate's handling of the examination, but was acquitted on appeal. Treason charges against him were dropped in late 1958.
Slovo was one of the earliest members of the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC) Umkhonto we Sizwe, and regularly attended meetings of its high command at Lilliesleaf Farm, Rivonia. He left the country in June 1963 on an 'external mission' and a month later police captured the remaining key figures on the high command, including Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki. A month after the arrest, Slovo's wife - Ruth First - was detained for almost four months. On her release she left the country, together with their three daughters.
Slovo continued to work for the ANC and the SACP abroad and in 1977 moved to Maputo, Mozambique, where he established an operational centre for the ANC. In 1982, Ruth First was killed in a parcel bomb explosion in Maputo. Two years later, Slovo was forced to leave Mozambique following the signing of the Nkomati Accord between that country and South Africa. In January 1986, a British court awarded Slovo substantial damages against a South African newspaper group over a report in The Star newspaper that he had orchestrated the murder of his wife.
Following the death of Moses Mabhida in 1986, Slovo was appointed general secretary of the SACP. Early in 1987, the SACP asked the ANC to relieve Slovo of his MK position as a result of the pressure of his duties as general secretary of the SACP. As a result he vacated the position of chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe in April, but retained his position on the ANC National Executive Commitee and its political-military council.
In June 1989, the SACP congress adopted a new programme of action to replace its 1962 guidelines. It is accepted that the strategies of armed struggled did not rule out the possibilities of negotiations and compromise.
The SACP and ANC were unbanned in February 1990, and Slovo was elected as the party's general secretary, but in 1991 he retired from this position largely because of ill health, he was subsequently elected party chairman at the SACP conference held in December 1991.
After the 1994 elections Slovo was elected to cabinet where he served as Minister of Housing until his death on 6 January 1995.
"No matter what vision one has of South Africa, the first thing that must be done is to destroy racism."
Joe Slovo
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Someone on here gave me a website that displays some sign language signs. Which is nice. Just a problem I realized afterwards later on, is sort of like. It is another language and I have no one to practice that with, but also like. I really don't know how many people even know sign language where I'm at that it's even worth it? I only met one person ever who offered to communicate with me in sign language, despite not knowing it.
But like besides that, I can't really do that for telephone stuff. And just like. I dunno. I just don't want to bother physically speaking anymore at times. Just feels like I'm on a world of my own, like a ghost, not really able to interact with this world "right". Everyone on a different wavelength or level than whatever I'm on.
I did have this one psychiatrist once in the past, who kind of told me how this is gonna create issues if not addressed, and she was right. But im not sure what to do, since I already been through speech therapy in the past? Like while growing up, but here I am still struggling to speak. Just I dunno.
Some ghosts also speak though
You don't like speaking or not like hearing yourself? I'm not sure, maybe you can read aloud, if your sentences bother you? Like plays and stuff. If you want to hide it, not like anybody will know you've done it, if it makes you more sure to talk - great? You can try learning accents, that will obfuscate you are you so to say. Become irish colibri, or scottish one.
It's sort of complicated? I don't like speaking due to how frustrating it is to communicate, esp when misunderstandings come into play. Like I say a word, but someone hears a different one, or they try to guess what I said since they didn't understand me at all and I just sounded like a bunch of garbled noise. However at the same time, I also don't like hearing myself? Since there is some internalized ableism due to people really judging me in the past, but also like some voice gender dyphoria to? For never having voice trained? Except like, I can ignore that honestly? It's really not much of an issue hearing myself.
It might be helpful to explain like what my speech issues are?
I forgot the name for these. But a problem I have is like. In my head, I feel like im saying the word right, when Im speaking, it feels like im saying the word right. To me it sounds right, especially when im concreting on the articulation. But I am not saying the word right to everyone else. And one of the problems is articulating? And I remember a long time ago having to learn how to use like use the tongue and stuff in proper ways. However that like, for some reason for me, really hard to do? I don't know why I have trouble just "getting it" or like, using all the vocal parts for sound right. It just like. It just doesn't come to me even when trying to put effort into trying to make a certain sound. I recall a few times getting frustrated in speech therapy trying to make a certain sound that I just have trouble making the right way for some reason, since it like, I'm not getting it or something. Even when like past speech therapists tried to show me how and I still couldn't just "get it" right
Besides that, there also the issue of speaking too quietly, despite to me, sounding normal to everyone else. And trying to speak louder feels very hard to do.
But besides that there also just kind of like. More so a recent problem in the last few years where sometimes my vocal chords just don't want to work some days. As in like, some days. I try to say something, no words come out just air. So I have try again until I can finally get words to come out. However that happens just on some days. Other days my vocal cords just feel stressed, despite not using them, where it just hard to talk. Like very strained?
I know an issue is like, not having much chances to talk much. And doing something like reading aloud could help a bit. But I don't like doing that since I don't want anyone hearing me, like my dad if he not asleep.
sorry for that lengthy response, it just kind of a bunch of stuff.
oh, dad is always around, no solo time to do it?
other avenue, which is harder if you have to be stealthy, but would (i think) help with volume, is singing, you can try to install those tuner/pitch apps and try to hit a note a maintain it for couple of seconds, and then do doremi or other voice pitch stuff with microphone (there are tons of sites and apps for that). this skips problems with hearing words, but requires more persistence, as progress is slower
My dad pretty much is ever since he retired a few years ago, and I just don't really like making much noise when he's around, especially when he keeps drinking too much. If I still had this one job where I was a custodian doing night shift, that would've been a good time
I have tried some of those pitch apps, and such but that still a bit frustrating as well. Trying to hit like those pitches and like maintaining that pitch. This does remind me of a past speech therapist, recording and playing back what I said and trying to offer improvements, but it just like again. I dunno, I just don't "get it". It just very difficult. and sorry, I'm not trying to be difficult here while you're trying to help, and thanks for trying to help.
Yeah its frustrating, but good for vocal chords and giving yourself some volume. But shouldn't it be different "don't get it" compared with words? notes are not words, you hit it for 50 ms and blow past it, but you can't completely fail at it, you just move very rapidly through scale
. also its more about controlling your throat and like speed of breath, no words head empty 
Yea I kind of just meant more like, just straining for notes or scales and maintaining it without interruptions, but that has more to do with like needing to do it more like a physical exercise. so it is a different kind of not getting it compared to words, and maybe I should've have rephrased that better. but it is different than trying to speak words and all that. just some of the speech problems have to do with having trouble with like controlling my throat or like all the parts for like speech. I remember a past speech therapist telling me to trying to be more mindful of my breathing when speaking.
It just feels like, I dunno. Like for me this doesn't come naturally and I have to be mindful about some things, where as with others it just comes naturally to them like walking. So it just gets like frustrating a bit, especially when being unable to do some things where others just understand easily. Anyways thanks! It's most likely I'm just gonna continue just being silent, I dunno. I should try at least doing that hitting notes some more and stuff at least. Just for like that physical exercise for the vocal stuff