Statement by Bill Fletcher, Jr., on behalf of TransAfrica Forum
Twenty years ago this week an act of courage and audacity took place in Washington, DC. On Thanksgiving eve 1984, TransAfrica Forum President Randall Robinson, Civil Rights Commissioner Mary Frances Berry and then Congressman (Rev.) Walter Fauntroy decided to conduct civil disobedience at the South African Embassy in protest over the apartheid regime of white supremacy. That one action, only a few short weeks after the re-election of conservative US President Ronald Reagan, served as a signal fire for social justice fighters across the country. Not only did protests continue at the South African Embassy, but demonstrations and other actions spread across the USA with the aim of bringing about US sanctions against the illegal, racist apartheid regime.
The actions of November 1984, as brilliant, well-timed and courageous as they were, did not take place out of thin air. Even prior to the actual creation of the apartheid system [in 1948], African Americans and other US supporters of freedom, began building a support movement for Black majority rule in South Africa. The Council on African Affairs, led by two giants of the 20th century-scholar Dr. W.E.B. Dubois and singer/actor/renaissance man Paul Robeson-raised the demand for an end to colonialism in Africa and Asia, and brought particular attention to the situation in South Africa. Between 1946 and 1984, organizations and committees were formed in the USA, including the American Committee on Africa, the African Liberation Support Committee, the Southern African Support Project, TransAfrica/TransAfrica Forum and the Free South Africa Movement (to name only a few such organizations), emerged to demand democracy for South Africa and the destruction of the racist system.
The demand raised in the USA in support of South African freedom was not only raised by organizations explicitly focused on Africa and Africa policy. Organizations ranging from more radical groups like the Communist Party, the Nation of Islam, and the Black Panther Party, to more establishment groupings such as the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Council of Negro Women and the NAACP, took up the call, transforming a demand into a movement. In fact, no one organization could credibly claim sole possession of the banner of the anti-apartheid cause. In many respects that was the beauty of the movement.
The November 1984 actions served as a catalyst. They did not start the movement but rather helped it to evolve and raised its profile. The ultimate success in winning sanctions against the apartheid regime contributed to the defeat of white minority rule in South Africa, though clearly it was the South African people and its Black majority who took the lead in emancipating themselves. The increased international isolation of the apartheid regime combined with the mass movement of the South African people, making it impossible for the old regime to continue.
As we commemorate the actions of November 1984, let us remember that had it not been for the innumerable organizations, actions and individual acts of courage over more than 40 years, the South African Embassy sit-ins probably would not have happened at all, let alone, struck a chord in the conscience of millions of people.
Those who in 1946 started on the journey to support Black majority rule in Africa probably never anticipated the shape of the outcome. They and their successors suffered many setbacks, faced ridicule and red-baiting, and probably confronted their own self-doubt. Yet, without those warriors, victory would have been impossible.
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is the president of TransAfrica Forum, a Washington, DC-based non-profit organizing and educational center formed to raise awareness in the USA regarding issues facing the nations and peoples of Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.
