ALL RISE
ISBN 9781946395634 | paperback | $23.95 | publication date May 2022
- A Kirkus Reviews Best YA Book of 2022
- A USBBY 2023 Outstanding International Book
- Honorable mention, 2023 Children’s Africana Book Awards
All Rise: Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa revives six true stories of resistance by marginalized South Africans against the country’s colonial government in the years leading up to Apartheid. In six parts—each of which is illustrated by a different South African artist—All Rise shares the long-forgotten struggles of ordinary, working-class women and men who defended the disempowered during a tumultuous period in South African history. From immigrants and miners to tram workers and washerwomen, the everyday people in these stories bore the brunt of oppression and in some cases risked their lives to bring about positive change for future generations.
This graphic anthology breathes new life into a history dominated by icons, and promises to inspire all readers to become everyday activists and allies. The diverse creative team behind All Rise, from an array of races, genders, and backgrounds, is a testament to the multicultural South Africa dreamed of by the heroes in these stories—true stories of grit, compassion, and hope, now being told for the first time in print.
Reviews
“The illustrators’ rich, evocative artwork in a variety of styles and color palettes adds layers of texture and context to the primary source documents, bringing life to the people and places in a reverential way. The text breathes life into stories of courage that need to be heard. A robust examination of South Africa’s complex, storied history highlighting faces of radical justice.” — Kirkus, starred review
“Conyngham scoured archives and court records and from them pieced together portraits of everyday heroes who attempted to fight unjust treatment […] this accessible work of essential history will be welcomed on the shelves of activists & students alike” —Publishers Weekly
“These are smaller, lesser-known stories of South Africa’s past, but no less powerful and important. The tales told within the pages of All Rise are anchored in history, and elevated by subtle and nuanced characters, written with recognition and respect for their roles in these important events. The diversity of art flavours each tale with its own distinct atmosphere, complimenting and enhancing Conyngham’s writing and making every story uniquely accessible.”— Luke Molver, author/illustrator of King Shaka: Zulu Legend
“As a history teacher, one of the biggest challenges in the classroom is to make the past relatable and accessible to students. All Rise does just that by bringing primary sources to life and contextualizing them in an approachable manner for students. The attention to detail is riveting and the historiography behind the stories will challenge students to think about new ways to present history to future generations. Though a historical work, the questions raised about human rights, citizenship, and systems of justice resonate strongly today. I am thankful for the work Richard Conyngham and all the folks at Catalyst Press are doing and look forward to the class discussions this reading will ignite.” —Randall Martinez, history teacher Colorado Academy
“Its major achievement is to rescue forgotten episodes of resistance to authority and reflect on how the law was used and abused. Most of these stories involve migrants and the work of Conyngham and a team of illustrators has now immortalised forgotten members of the South African working class who achieved fleeting fame. […] This volume should bring [South African history] to a wider audience and its graphic approach must contain high potential as a teaching aid.” — Christopher Merrett, The Academic and Non-Fiction Authors’ Association of South Africa
“Exhaustively researched, beautifully illustrated, completely unflinching. All Rise is exactly what a historical comic should be.”— C.Spike Trotman, Cartoonist, Founder: Iron Circus Comics
“Between the covers of All Rise, Richard Conyngham and a team – no a confederation – of South African artists pull back the curtains on the hidden history of popular resistance to oppression in South Africa before apartheid. Excavated from their hiding places in the archives, these are the virtually untold stories of working men and women – washers, miners, immigrant laborers, farmers. Most importantly, these stories are made legible to anyone, anywhere, as universal histories of defiance and struggle that use art and text to do more than either could alone. Splendid to read on your own, this is also a brilliant tool for the classroom or seminar, complete with original evidence and a plethora of supporting material.”— Trevor R. Getz, author of Abina and the Important Men
“This beautifully illustrated graphic novel telling the story of cases about law and social justice in South Africa in the first half of the twentieth century brings them vividly to life. Not only a great read, it is also a valuable educational resource that should spark important conversations about law, (in)justice and history across our country.” – Kate O’Regan, retired Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa
“An innovative and impactful way to tell our history. This is the history book I didn’t know I needed!” – Dr. Sithembile Mbete, University of Pretoria
“All Rise is a giant step for South African comics: an inspired mix of archival sleuthing and graphic vision. Conyngham and his all-star team of artists have dug up a hoard of resistance history, and brought it to glittering life.” – Carlos Amato, Mail & Guardian
“Writer and historian [Richard] Conyngham found — and has brought to life — the extraordinary legal struggles of working-class South African men and women who defied government and corporate oppression. […] The volume is rich in diverse resistance cases.” —Sunday Times (South Africa)
The Author
Richard Conyngham is the author, creative director and researcher behind All Rise. After graduating from the universities of Cape Town and Cambridge, he worked for South African civil-society organizations Equal Education, The Bookery, and Ndifuna Ukwazi, the London publisher Slightly Foxed, and the edtech organization MakeTomorrow. In 2016, Richard collaborated with the Trantraal Brothers to create Safety, Justice and People’s Power, an illustrated companion to the O’Regan-Pikoli Commission of Inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha.
The Illustrators
Saaid Rahbeeni lives in Maitland, Cape Town. A freelance illustrator with decades of experience, he previously worked for the Educational Support Services Trust, Jincom, Strika Entertainment, and MTE Studios. His drawings appear in a range of school textbooks published by Pearson, Pan Macmillan, and Oxford University Press, among others, and he has also contributed to the Our Story series by South African Heritage Publishers.
The Trantraal Brothers, André (left) and Nathan are a sibling-illustrator duo who grew up in the Cape Town township of Mitchells Plain before moving to Bishop Lavis. They have published numerous cartoons and graphic works including Coloureds (2010) and Crossroads (2014–2020, written by Koni Benson). Independently, André has written and illustrated the children’s book series, Keegan and Samier. Nathan has published three poetry collections in Kaaps—earning him numerous awards including the 2013 Ingrid Jonker Prize and the 2020 SALA Poetry Award—as well as a collection of his columns as published in the Afrikaans newspaper, Rapport.
Liz Clarke lives in Cape Town, where she works as an illustrator. She has contributed to the genre of graphic history internationally, and her work is featured in seven books published by Oxford University Press USA—including Witness to the Age of Revolution (written by Charles F. Walker), which won the Association of American Publishers PROSE Award for Nonfiction Graphic Novels, and Abina and the Important Men (written by Trevor R. Getz), which won the American Historical Association’s James Harvey Robinson Prize.
Dada Khanyisa is an Umzimkhulu-born, Johannesburg-raised, Cape Town-based multi-disciplinary artist whose work explores the intersection of technology and contemporary social culture with respect to the Black experience. In 2016, they (Dada’s preferred pronoun) were awarded the Simon Gerson Prize, and a year later, completed a commission for a 35-metre mural on Constitution Hill in Johannesburg. In 2018, the Stevenson Gallery in Cape Town presented Dada’s first solo exhibition, Bamb’iphone, followed up two years later by the Johannesburg show, Good Feelings.
Tumi Mamabolo hails from Polokwane in Limpopo province. He can’t remember a time when he wasn’t avidly drawing and painting, usually a comic or graphic novel from his own imagination. Since graduating with a degree in Information Design from the University of Pretoria in 2020, he has already won two Gold Loerie awards for his animation work. Still in his early twenties, Tumi is a rare talent and by far the youngest of the All Rise contributors.
Mark Modimola was born in Pretoria of Sotho-Tsonga parentage. Originally a graphic designer, he studied at the University of Pretoria and later pursued a Fulbright Scholarship in the United States before returning to South Africa determined to illustrate full-time. Mark is a prolific and versatile creator, with a portfolio that explores African identity and spirituality, often through the cultural aesthetic of Afrofuturism.
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