For Your Bookshelf: Living Coloured
A tribute to Cape Coloured culture and resilience, Living Coloured speaks to the pains of the past and the enduring strength of its people.
This collection of short stories is a journey through the tough realities of apartheid, showing how a community, forced into an unfamiliar place, fought to survive with spirit and pride.
Author: Yusuf Daniels
Genres: Short stories
Format: Paperback
Pages: 120 pages
Publisher: Jacanda Media
Published: 2019
Book Details
Living Coloured: Because Black and White Were Already Taken brings to life the experiences of a community that’s always been in the margins, but never out of sight. It’s a world where the music at Space Odyssey carries memories of another time, and the laughter at the Mitchells Plain pool brings a sense of freedom that can’t be taken away. The stories celebrate the bonds formed through food, family, and faith, with Ramadan as a time for connection, not division.
But the beauty of these stories is in how they hold both joy and pain in the same breath. Behind every moment of happiness is a reminder of the harshness of apartheid, the displacements forced upon families, and the bitterness of policies like the Group Areas Act that divided people and erased their identities. It’s a history that sticks with you, a past that’s too important to forget.
As you read, you’ll feel for the community—how they fought to keep going, to make a life out of nothing, to stay hopeful even when the world was stacked against them. And when you think about how their black neighbours had it even worse, you understand just how deep the wounds go.
Meet The Author
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Yusuf Daniels was raised in the heart of the Cape Flats, a place that still carries the weight of its past. He grew up as one of four siblings in Bridgetown, before his family moved to Mitchells Plain. In a community where life isn’t easy but always feels like home, his family shared meals, laughs, and prayers, sticking together through the challenges of a turbulent history. Today, Yusuf has built a career as a property auctioneer, and is a father of three
He and his daughter Thameenah have built a popular online following with their ‘Living Lekka’ brand. They share heartwarming videos, including ones where he teaches her Afrikaans. They also starred in their own cooking show Ja, Daddy Kan Lekka Eet, which aired on eExtra.
About The Author
