Liberation diaries is a compilation of 38 essays written by South Africans reflecting on the journey of 20 years of democracy, against expectations, aspirations and outcomes. Contributors were asked to reflect on what freedom means to them in the collective sense and to write about their experience of democracy. South Africans have unique personal journals to share, influenced by personal or collective circumstances that continue to shape their perspectives. The essays in Liberation diaries reflect the trials and tribulations, high and low points of the contributors’ stories of post-Apartheid South Africa and the journey towards building a democratic, non-sexist, non-racial, united and prosperous country. As we reach 20 years of democracy, books will be written, celebrations held, commentaries made and protests amplified.