Anthony Coetzer-Liversage, a South African visiting Virginia
Commonwealth University this year as a Humphreys Fellow, did not initially find
a program on a book set in Nigeria to be an obvious fit for himself. Yet his
presentation on Teju Cole’s Every Day is for the Thief at the Around the
World through Books program on Jan. 28 had the audience listening in sympathy
as he tied the issues in the book to his own difficult experiences as a young
man in Cape Town.
He used quotations from the book to highlight issues in
Nigeria such as corrupt government officials, the endemic system of bribery,
the hopelessness of poverty and drug abuse, and the harshness of revenge
justice, and showed how those things are also prevalent in South Africa and
many countries that are struggling toward democracy.
Coetzer-Liversage’s experience providing substance abuse
prevention and treatment services to minority groups in South Africa have given
him a particularly acute understanding of how difficult it is to make positive
changes and overcome systemic moral and economic obstacles, yet he expressed a
great hope that progress can be made through small individual contributions.
One audience member wrote, appreciatively, “Anthony modelled what he says we
need more of—truth, addressing our fears, taking risks, etc.”
Around the World through Books is sponsored by the
Multicultural Enrichment Council.
By Lisa Bishop
