No Easy Victories: African Liberation and American Activists

Africa World Press

The history of co-operation between African liberation movements and American activists is largely untold. Now a book has been published which tells the behind-the-scenes story of how Americans and Africans helped and inspired one another in their struggles for freedom.

Excerpts from No Easy Victories: African Liberation and American Activists over a Half Century, 1950-2000 are published by arrangement with www.noeasyvictories.org and www.africaworldpressbooks.com.

Why Should Americans Worry About Africa?

Africa World Press

Writing in 1950, Alphaeus Hunton, who led the Council on African Affairs in the U.S., tells a correspondent why Americans should be interested in conditions in Africa.

(right) Dorothy and Alphaeus Hunton in Conakry, Guinea, in 1962.

Behind the Scenes at the United Nations

Nils Amar Tegmo

E. S. Reddy (left), an Indian official at the United Nations, witnessed and took part in the struggle against apartheid for nearly 40 years. He spoke to Lisa Brock.

From Atlanta to East Africa

Danny Lyon/Magnum

Journalist Charles Cobb Jr., tells of the songs written about Kenyan liberation hero Oginga Odinga, and of how Americans looked to Africa when trying to find alternative ways of organizing. Interview by Julius Scott.

From left, student activists Stokely Carmichael, Charlie Cobb, and George Greene at a 1963 protest in Atlanta, Georgia.

From Tanzania to Kansas and Back Again

Africa World Press

Tanzanian publisher Walter Bgoya tells of mutual discovery between Tanzanians and American activists involved in African liberation movements during the 60s and 70s.

Walter Bgoya with, from left, Kathy Flewellen and Geri Augusto, two of the organizers of the Sixth Pan-African Congress.

Taking the Lead in the U.S. Congress

SARAP/Africa World Press

U.S. Congressman Charles Diggs and his associate Goler Butcher were influential in keeping African liberation struggles on the U.S government's agenda in the 1970s and 1980s. Profiled by William Minter.

Charles Diggs (left) and Goler Butcher, as Diggs resigns from the U.S. delegation to the United Nations in 1971.

Durham, Durban and AllAfrica

William Minter draws on an interview with allAfrica's CEO, Reed Kramer, and an article by co-founder Tami Hultman to trace the beginnings of what is now the web's largest free access source of African news.

((left) The Africa News Service staff in Durham, 1985, including Reed Kramer (back row, far right) and Tami Hultman (front row, third from left).

Robert Van Lierop: A Luta Continua

Africa World Press

Robert Van Lierop talks about how he became involved in filming and distributing his influential film, A Luta Continua (The Struggle Continues), released in 1972. Interview by William Minter.

Van Lierop (right) and President Samora Machel of Mozambique at the United Nations in 1977.

From the Sixth Pan-African Congress to the Free South Africa Movement

Sylvia Hill/Africa World Press

Sylvia Hill and her fellow American activists were at the heart of the movement that brought demonstrators to be arrested at the South African Embassy in Washington, DC, in the mid-1980s. Profiled by William Minter.

(left) Sylvia Hill, center, and Gay McDougall were among activists invited by Nelson Mandela to visit South Africa in October 1991.

Jennifer Davis: Clarity and Coalition Building

UN/Africa World Press

Gail Hovey draws on interviews with Jennifer Davis, a South African exile who led the American Committee on Africa in the 1980s and 1990s.

(right)Jennifer Davis, left, testifies at the United Nations on South Africa's apartheid policies, November 1980.

"South Africa Is Next to Namibia": The Lutheran Connection

Africa World Press

Peter and Solveig Kjeseth helped mobilize more than 10,000 American Lutherans to support Namibian independence and impose sanctions on South Africa. Interviewed by Christopher Saunders.

(left) Solveig Kjeseth, left, with fellow activist Selma Shejavali.

"Faces Filled with Joy": The 1994 South African Election

James Knutson/Africa World Press

Gail Hovey, an American who travelled to South Africa in April 1994 to officially observe the country's first democratic elections, talks about the historic day.

(right) Gail Hovey, left, with fellow official observer Jennifer Davis and South African pastor Robert Mkhwanazi, in 1994.

Philippe Wamba: New Pan-African Generation

Africa World Press

Philippe Wamba talks about the historical relationship between black Americans and their counterparts in Africa, in an extract from his memoir Kinship.

(left) Philippe Wamba