AfricaFocus Sponsor: African Activist Archive Project
http://africanactivist.msu.edu |
This sponsorship donated by individual AfricaFocus readers. |
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This project is preserving records and memories of activism in the
United States to support the struggles of African peoples against
colonialism, apartheid, and social injustice from the 1950s through the 1990s.
The project is assembling:
- an online archive of historical materials - pamphlets, newsletters,
leaflets, buttons, posters, T-shirts, photographs, and audio and video recordings
- personal remembrances and interviews with activists
- a directory of archives of organizations and individuals deposited
in libraries and historical societies that are available for further research
The African Activist Archive Project is reaching out to the hundreds of organizations
and individuals that supported African liberation struggles and is urging them to preserve
their vital records and to make selected materials available to the public on this website.
The project also assists groups and individuals to deposit their archives in public repositories,
including the African Activist Archive in Special Collections at Michigan State University Libraries.
The U.S. African solidarity movement was racially diverse and was a significant part of the broad struggle against
racism in the United States. The movement involved many types of organizations across the country, and this project
seeks to document as many organizations as possible that participated in activist work in solidarity with African
people's struggles. The geographic focus of activism in the collection is Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia,
South Africa, and Zimbabwe; however, this focus is not exclusive.
This movement offers important lessons about popular organizing for social justice. The anti-apartheid movement
of the 1970s-1994, in particular, was unprecedented. Campaigns by community activists, students, faculty, churches,
unions, and city, county, and state legislators led to divestment from U.S. companies doing business in South Africa
and culminated in passage of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 that changed U.S. foreign policy
over President Reagan's veto.
Organizations in the African solidarity movement created newsletters, pamphlets, leaflets, policy and strategy papers,
meeting minutes, correspondence, and graphic, audio and visual material such as posters, buttons, T-shirts, photos,
slideshows, radio interviews, and videos. Many groups and coalitions no longer exist, but individuals associated with
them have preserved many vital records.
We are eager to work with anyone who can help document additional campaigns and organizations to be included in this
online archive. We also encourage people to submit written remembrances and audio or video interviews.
Please contact the project if you would like to
contribute to this website or donate materials to a physical archive.
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