[2] Rafael Marques has praised her contributions to Angolan journalism: Susana is a very courageous journalist and one of the few women who has embraced the fight for the freedom of press in the country, and that is quite remarkable.
She attended high school in Luanda, and while there started training at the state-owned Rádio Nacional Angola.
[3] In 2008 Mendes joined other feminists to create the Forum of Women Journalists for Gender Equality (FMJIG).
Members created a series of radio programs in 2009 to promote a draft bill crimininalizing domestic violence.
[1] In 2009-10 Mendes was vice president of the Johannesburg-based Africa Investigative Reporters Forum.