Apartheid South Africa invested extraordinary funds disseminating propaganda to conceal conditions in southern Africa. During the peak years of the struggle, South Africa spent hundreds of millions to project itself as the great reform government and peacemaker for the region. The near total silence of the U.S. press in response to South African brutalities was another ‘weapon’ of the apartheid system.
As a result, movement organizers developed their own media. All the activist groups created newsletters and bulletins, which were circulated internationally. Activist-journalist Danny Schechter produced South Africa Now, an extraordinarily important television show that taught American audiences about the politics and culture of southern Africa. After a few years, conservative pressure forced its cancellation.
Yale University has digitized South Africa Now! but it’s really been activists and academics turned archivists who have taken the lead in creating unconventional collections. They’ve digitized materials long before Covid, reflecting the ethos of mutual aid and solidarity that infused the internationalist movement for African Liberation. Historian Lisa Brock a key participant in the antiapartheid movement organized the Chicago Anti-Apartheid Collection at Columbia College Chicago. It’s a physical and digital archive, anchored by scores of oral histories conducted by undergraduates who were trained as part of the collectivist ethos of the movement. The Africa Activist Archive based at Michigan State University, curated by veteran activists Richard Knight and Chris Root also exemplifies the transparent and collaborative ethos of the movement.
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