Top 20 All Time List
- Mandela The Long Walk to Freedom
For any South African and African the story of Nelson Mandela’s life is one of the most inspirational examples of self-less commitment to a cause that positively impacted the lives of an entire nation. It’s a clear illustration of perseverance in the face imminent death for a cause greater than ones self-interest, including to the detriment of ones own family life.
The lesson for me in this realm is that as citizens in our country and continent we cannot just sit back while things go wrong in our environment and that we all should be willing to fight for the cause for the betterment of our environment and the people living in it.
The process of undoing Apartheid and its divisive policies in South Africa is just a microcosm of the much larger correction that needs to take place at a continental level where entire regions were segregated into smaller manageable units by the former colonizers. Africans need to selflessly come together and work towards the common cause of re-uniting Africa.
2. Elon Musk – Tesla, Spacex, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future!
South African born entrepreneur Elon Musk is proving to be one of the greatest visionaries and inventors of our time and is focused on innovation or technology that will significantly disrupt the major industries that are built on burning fossil fuels (oil & coal) which powers the internal combustion engine (ICE) and coal fired power stations.
Through his company Tesla he has pioneered the development of battery technology to power all-electric vehicles as well a battery called a Powerwall which stores solar energy to enable a house to get completely off the electricity power grid by installing solar roof panels. At Tesla he is designing and producing a range of vehicles which are attractive and for high performance, bucking the trend where electric vehicles were seen as being ugly and slow.
As if this was not enough through his company Spacex he has also completely disrupted the space travel industry developing cheaper reusable rockets which are now being used by NASA to ferry cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). In April 2020 Spacex historically sent the first US manned flight to the ISS on its Crew Dragon vessel atop the Falcon 9 rocket. This was the first such mission since the retirement of the US Space Shuttle program more than 10 years ago.
This book by Ashley Vance, which is available on Amazon.com is a must read as it clearly illustrates to all human beings that our only limit in this life is our imagination, and shows clearly that Musks dreams are out of this world.
3. Trevor Noah, Born a Crime – Stories from a South African Childhood
This book paints such a clear picture of what life was like in Apartheid South Africa for a non-white South African. This matters because the Apartheid system was so clinical in its divisiveness that the experience of the different race classes can be categorized and compartmentalized.
As a black South African reading Trevor Noah’s story it was quite illuminating for me as I was fortunate to not have had to experience it as I was brought up in neighboring peaceful Swaziland. The story gave me a sense of what it must have been like for my father growing up in South Africa. The Aparthied system took the divide and rule principle to a micro-level enabling a minority population to rule over and oppress a majority for almost 50 years (from 1948 to 1993).
I picked this book among my top reads as its a great illustration of how ones upbringing has a major impact on molding a persons character and how adaptable people are given their circumstances. Trevor was very intuitive and was able to create a persona that would fit whatever environment he found himself in. This trait comes through very strongly in his performances where he is able to portray different types and races of people.
4. Losing my Virginity, Richard Branson – Autobiography
This biography is a classic story of entrepreneurship, taking on the establishment and creating a niche in a very established economy, scaling a business globally, resilience and perserverance.
Richard Branson’s life is a really good illustration that you should dare to dream, and follow that with action, resolve and hard work. He focuses on taking care of his employees because he believes that if as founder or owner you make sure that your employees are happy, then they in turn will take care of your customers.
5. The Audacity of Hope, Thoughts on reclaiming the American Dream
The biography on Barack Obama is a very unique view on the very improbable rise to the highest office in the worlds largest economy, by firstly the first Black American who has a Kenyan father and Hawaiian mother.
This is optimizes the so-called ‘American Dream’, and if it wasn’t real would be great movie! America truly is the land where really big dreams, with the right preparation, moves and requisite work.