found an option that was not
among the ones presented to her:
She took a secretarial course, a
typing class. At the time, a black
woman learning how to type was
like a blind person learning how to
drive. It’s an admirable effort, but
you’re unlikely to ever be called
upon to execute the task. By law,
white-collar jobs and skilled-labor
jobs were reserved for whites. Black
people didn’t work in offices. My
mom, however, was a rebel, and,
fortunately for her, her rebellion
came along at the right moment.
In the early 1980s, the South
African government began making