She grew up at a time when neighborhoods, schools, and all public facilities, were segregated by racial profile. Writing in her memoir, "Fighting for Mandela", she recollects a meeting with anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko when she was 26 that helped solidify the notion of identity in her mind. The meeting, she says, helped make clear in her mind that one "didn't have to be African to call yourself a Black." That notion helped her find solidarity in a group. She writes, "I had found solidarity. At last, I knew where I belonged."