The personal and political exploded in early 1960 . Head joined Sobukwe 's Pan-Africanist Congress ( PAC ) a few weeks before that party led a fateful mass protest in Soweto , Sharpeville , and other black townships . The Sharpeville massacre ensued , triggering decisive political and social changes in South Africa . Black political parties were banned and thousands of activists were arrested . Head worked briefly to support PAC prisoners before being arrested herself in an ugly incident of mutual betrayal among PAC sympathisers . Although the charges against her were eventually dismissed , she soon spiralled down into a deep depression and attempted suicide . After a brief hospitalization , she returned to Cape Town , temporarily broken in spirit and disillusioned with politics . Around 1969 , Head also began to suffer symptoms of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia After a year of lying low , Head reappeared in Cape Town 's intellectual and political circles , associating with the multiracial intellectuals of the Liberal Party as well as with the agitators of the PAC . She began to smoke and drink . In July 1961 she met Harold Head , a well-spoken young Coloured man from Pretoria who had many of the same intellectual interests as herself . Six weeks later they were married , and on May 15 , 1962 their only child , Howard Rex Head was born . The infant was marked by a slight , then-unrecognised foetal alcohol disorder , one that was to affect him throughout his life
Sharpeville massacre
Sharpeville massacre
Bessie Head