"Mandela: Struggle for Freedom" Pre-Reads - Illinois Holocaust Museum

General Information

Apartheid and the U.S.

https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/nesbitt/

This is a collection that Columbia College curated that has a huge array of materials and primary sources from local and wider US activists, including Prexy Nesbitt. This link will take you directly to a short biography of his life, which includes further links to his writings, speeches, etc. as well as the larger collection. Columbia did a really great job with this. General link to the Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement Collection here: https://caamcollection.omeka.net/.

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=249494278.

This is a short NPR interview with former Apartheid activist and head of the African Activist Archive Richard Knight, who recalls the indirect US role in South Africa. He talks about the importance of activism on college campuses and their role in the divestment movement at the time. Super interesting stuff.

http://www.noeasyvictories.org/select/19_rubin.php.

This excerpt from activist Rachel Rubin describes her time working with Chicago Committee in Solidarity with South Africa (CCISSA) and how the group had to deal with being labeled as essentially “white saviors” as they continued to launch statewide divestment campaigns. Discusses the nuances of the racial divide and development at the time in a local context.

Pressure to End Apartheid Began at Grass Roots in U.S.

https://geneva.usmission.gov/2013/12/17/pressure-to-end-apartheid-began-at-grass-roots-in-u-s/#:~:text=The%20combined%20force%20of%20this,political%20prisoners%20and%20entered%20into