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And finally, and I believe more importantly, I am most happy to announce that on December 9, 1988, on the eve of Human Rights Day, a statewide organization, Wisconsin Against Apartheid, was born. I will turn back to both of these issues as I try to do justice to a most important movement for justice, peace and equality. The Free South Africa Coalition was born in March of 1985. It was on March 19 that some thirty people were murdered by South African police. These people of Langa were merely trying to attend a funeral of some fri ends who had also been murdered by the pol ice a few days earlier. It was exactly 25 years earlier, March 21,1960, that 65 unarmed people had been murdered in Sharpeville. Time flies for the rest of the world, while it stands still in Sharpeville, Langa and the rest of South Africa. The day following the Langa massacre, Presi- dent Reagan happened to be holding an unrelated press conference. During the question and answer period, Reagan was asked to comment about hi s thoughts on the Langa massacre. After some babb 1 i ng about that nation's internal strife, Reagan said" well you know, some people are out just looking for trouble." It was this clearly fascistic j .J outlook that so angered enough of us Mi lwaukeeans that we had to organize our outrage. Credit should first of all be given to the national movement that had already been building due to the efforts of an organization called Transafrica. It was on Thanksgiving Day, 1984, that Randall Robinson, director of Transafrica, Mary Frances Berry and Congressman Walter Fauntory were arrested in front of the South African Embassy for pro testing against apartheid. I believe that this was the initial spark that set fire to the current nationwide movement. Since that day, as a matter of principle, people have been arrested on a regular basis, famous and non-famous, protesting against apartheid. This is not to diminish the role that other very important anti-apartheid organizations have played in our country, such as the Washington Office on Africa, or the U.N. Centre Against Apartheid. It was in January 1985 that an ad hoc group of individuals called ) together a rally to protest apartheid at St. Agnes Church in Milwaukee. A couple of hundred people attended, but there was no followup. Added to this, the organizers of that event had no credible base in the Milwaukee Black community. This was the rally at which Alderman Michael McGee criticized Stevie Wonder's arrest at the Washington embassy as insincere and insignificant. He further sarcastically remarked about Stevie wearing a "big fur coat" during his protest. 1. for one, resented th is attack on one of my heros and was ab 1 e to re 1 ax when the woman sitting next to me said, "Yeah, but it's okay for him [McGee] to stand up there with his $30 Izad shirt on." I looked at the 1 ittle alligator on McGee's shirt and laughed. One thing that I have learned from my years in the movement is a lesson from Karl Marx, and that is to 'never oppose anything progressive', especially in ~ublic. 2 With Reagan's remakrs ever on my mind, I quickly called on members of the community who I knew to be both progressive and sincere. As I look back, it was the activists of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression who provided the initial boost that gave birth to the Free South Africa Coalition; namely, Booker Collins, Art Heitzer and Jan Schlichting. must confess here to some old ultra- leftist ideas that must have snuck into my thoughts; my first inclina- tiori was to padlock the doors of the Federal Building. It was Booker Collins who reminded me that there was not substitute for mass struggle. That was over three and a half years ago. Instead, we called a public meeting to determine how to respond to the murders in Langa and Ronald Reagan's sickly response. After a good deal of discussion we all agreed that it was necessary to organize a demonstration. At first, it was felt that we could hold the demonstration to coincide with the anniver- sary of the assasination of Dr. King, April 4. Instead, the consensus was that we just did not have enough time. We would hold the first of many protests on April 12, 1985 at the Reuss Federal Plaza, on Third and Wisconsin Avenue. The Coalition building process began as we solicited the endorsement and participation of about a dozen organiza- tions. Approximately 40 people attended the emergency rally. This was the beginning of the as of yet unnamed coalition. We began to meet regularly at St. Galls Catholic Church on Center and King Drive. It was soon after that, that we came up with the name, Free South Africa Coalition, together with our five point program: 1. Mandatory sanctions: total divestment and the cutting off of all economic and political ties to South Africa by our country. 2. To conduct on-going education about South Africa and apartheid and gather support for the 1985 Anti-Apartheid Act of the U.S. House of Representatives. 3 3. Freedom for all political prisoners. i ncluding Nelson Mandela. 4. Boycott all Shell Oil products as requested by the South Africa Oil Workers . South African Congress of Trade Unions and the AFL-CIO. 5. Support for the South African freedom struggle. This calls for support of the African National Congress and the Freedom Charter. As I recall, there was one dissenting voice who thought our support for the Afri can Nat i ona 1 Congress mi ght be percei ved as too radi ca 1 or that we might scare off some of the broader. less radical members of the Milwaukee community. After some discussion, it was overwhelm- ingly resolved that we would not back down on our principled belief in the African National Congress as the vanguard liberation movement of the South Afri can peop 1 e. History has proven us correct; those who have opposed the South Afri can peoples I quest for freedom do not . " ) oppose it on the grounds that the African National Congress is the vanguard organization. Instead, we have come across more openly rascist views such as, lithe Blacks are not ready to govern themselves, II or "if the Blacks take control, they will wipe out all of the whites. II It is amazing how a racist mind works; somehow. it is thought that once the great Black majority of South Afri cans is free, that they wi 11 somehow become 1 i ke the oppres sor. I heard these views expressed at a Methodist Church in West Bend. Wisconsin. There is need for a great dea 1 of education and en 1 i ghtenment. I must also add that these overt views of ignorance have been the exception to the rule. As I have traveled to different parts of the state. I have found a great deal of concern and support for the Black people of South Africa. It is critical that we continue to mobilize support and public l / opi ni on i n favor of an end to aparthei d. When South Afri ca is free, 4 it wi 11 be important that our government knows that it wi 11 not be ab 1 e to i ntervene on beha If of its present ally to save them from communism, black nationalism, or to save the lives of the Americans who are there (as in the case of Grenada). We have a 1so 1 inked the question of bann i ng nuc 1 ear weapons to the struggle to end apartheid. Who is to say that the first nuclear bomb dropped mi ght not be on South Afri can soi l? Wi th South Afri cans being driven to the most barren sections of the country, who is to say that the South African fascists might not wipe out the Black popula- tion in a single blow? The time to be outraged is now, before it is too late. Apartheid has proven on too many occasions, and as a matter of daily practice, that a Black life is not valued. Apartheid, kinfolk to genocide. And on occasion, I have asked the skeptic to tell me ) what is the difference between a Bantustan and a concentration camp. I urge them to take a closer look at South Afri ca today, where one ha 1 f of the chi ldren di e before they are fi ve from hunger, di sease and murder. I know I am di vergi ng, but I have the Mi lwaukee Annui ty and Pension Board on my mind. They did not listen to these same con- cerns. They do not look at moral questions, only economic ones. Later, I will deal with their immoral stance and their bad economic decisions. Let it suffice to say at this point that we of the Free South Africa Coalition will not rest until our city pension fund divests its $228 million invested in corporations that do business in South Africa. I want to deal at length with the activities of the Coalition because change only comes about through organized pressure or resist- ance. This will also allow me to discuss the importance of the col- ; / lective or organized group to win some of these most important battles. 5 The Coalition promoted the passage of the Anti-Apartheid Act (HR 1460); an omnibus sanctions bill (HR 997); and a state bill (AB 54), which called for the State pension fund to divest. The Anti-Apartheid Act called for a ban on all new business investment and bank loans in South Africa as well as a ban on all South African gold coin sales in the United States; mandated fair employment practices for Ameri can fi rms already doing business in South Africa; and endorsed United Nations Resolution 435, which calls for South African withdrawal from Namibia. Local and national anti-apartheid organizations had gone on the offensive to defeat the Reagan "constructive engagement" policies of his administration. Despite the increased repression in South Africa, the Reagan administration had lifted export restrictions on military and police equipment as well as on nuclear technology, allowing sales ) to South Africa of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of previously [:)rohibited items, including technology useful in the manufacture of nuclear and conventional arms, turbojet aircraft with intelligence gathering capabilities and sophisticated computer equipment used by 1 the regime's security forces. Constructive engagement has provided Pretoria with both the substantive and symbolic support that has further encouraged reperssion at home as well as militarism throughout the region, most notably, in Namibia, w~ich South Africa continues to occupy illegally. I can recall a news commentator "reporting" that some people felt that the reason certain leaders of the Black community had initiated the solidarity movement to isolate and free South Africa was to embarass the Reagan presidency here at home. Coming on the heels of his second 1 Conyers. John. Jr. Getting Tough With Pretoria, New York Times, January 23. 1985. 2Id • Fi big victory for president. at his inaugural address, Reagan referred ll to "freedom as our staunchest ally and "tyrannyll as our staunchest adversary. Based on this, news reporters viewed "certain black leaders." meaning Randall Robinson. Jesse Jackson, Mary Fraces Berry, the NAACP and the entire Congressional Black Caucus, as having nothing better to do than try an embarass the president. For many of us, the very election of Reagan as our pres i dent was an embarassment in the first place, not to mention his so-called policy of "constructive ll engagement. II This "informed reporter also did not know that certain Black leaders have been calling for sanctions against South Africa for the past 25 years. I n a joi nt statement, two Nobel Peace Pri ze winners, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Chief Albert J. Lutuli of the African National Congress, made this appeal on Human Rights Day, - ) December la, 1962: We, therefore, ask all men of good will to take action against apartheid in the following manner: Hold meetings and demonstrations on December 10, Human Rights Day; Urge your church. union, lodge. or club to observe this day as one of protest; Urge your Government to support economic sanctions; Write to your mission to the United Nations urging adoption of a resolution calling for inter national isolation of South Africa; Donlt buy South Africals products; Donlt trade or invest in South Africa; Translate public opinion into public action by explaining facts to all peoples, to groups to which you belong, and to countries of which you are citizens until an effective international quarantine of ) apartheid is established. 7 I am happy to say that this statement, along with a speech that Dr. King delivered on December 10, 1965 at Hunter College, calling for an international boycott of South Africa, has been distributed by the thousands here in Milwaukee by the Free South Africa Coali t ion. Generally speaking, the movement for sanctions and divestment is winning the ideological and . political battle. As of the end of 1986, 25 states, cities and public universities, with pension and endow- ment funds totalling $20.4 billion, have divested themselves of $620 million in South Africa related securities. Eighteen major municipali- ties - New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Hartford, San Fran- cisco, Oakland, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Miami, Cincinnati, Dallas, louis- ville, Richmond, Alexandria, Charlottesville, New Orleans and Burling- ton , Vermont -- have enacted ordinances in an effort to restrict South "3 " ) Africa related investments by their pension funds. On May 19, 1977, the University of Wisconsin Systsem divested $11 million worth of funds in corporations doing business in South Africa on the premise that to invest in the South African economy violated the state civil rights act. The Milwaukee Public library Board also has had the wisdom to divest its funds from South African related corporations. This was due to the efforts of Paula Dorsey of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union. Assembly Bill 54 On February 7, 1985, due to the initiative of Representative Marcia Coggs of Milwaukee, 38 members of the State legislature and 17 State Senators introduced Assembly Bill 54. The bill prohibited the invest- 3 Alderman Frank and Nabors, Resoluti.on relating to an analysis of the investment of city pension funds with companies investing in the Republic of South Africa. File #85-1083. 8 ment board from investing monies from the fixed retirement investment trust or the variable retirement investment trust in either of the following: 1. Any financial institution which directly or through any subsidiary has any outstanding loan to the government of the Republic of South Africa or to any instrumentality of the government of the Republic of South Africa. 2. Any stocks or obligations of any company doing business in the Republic of South Africa or wit~ the government of the Republic of South Africa. The bill allowed for a time period of three years for the divest- ment process to take place. In addition. it called for the investing of the proceeds resulting from the divestiture of these investments in persons or bodies which invest or do business in this state. to the extent that this · was reasonably possible. The estimated impact on the individual retiree would be a decrease in their benefits of about $165 per year. A further effect of the bi 11. and perhaps the force behind its defeat. was to prohibit investments in these Wisconsin firms: Allis Chalmers (Milwaukee) Applied Power. Inc. (Milwaukee) Bucyrus-Erie Co. (So. Mi lwaukee) General Telephone Co. of Wisconsin Harni schfeger Corp. (Mi 1waukee)* Johnson Control s, Inc. (Mi lwaukee) S.C. Johnson & Son. Inc. (Racine) Kimberly-Clerk Corp. (Neenah) The Parker Pen Co. (Janesville) Rexnord. Inc. (Mi lwaukee) The Sentry Corp. (Stevens Point) Trane Co. (La Crosse) Twin Disk. Inc. (Racine) *Harnischfeger Corp. must have really enjoyed doing business in South Africa. They closed their Milwaukee plant and moved to South Africa. 41985 Assembly Bill 54, 1985-1986 Legislature. State of Wisconsin. p. 1. 9 Allen Bradley (subsidiary of Rockwell International Corp .• Mil wau kee) J.I. Case (subsidiary of Tenneco. Racine) Deere & Co. (Horicon) General Electric (Milwaukee and Waukesha) General Motors (Janesville) 5 IBM (Mu It i P 1 e) With Assembly Bill 54 creating a stir throughout the state and Coalitions in Madison and now Milwaukee beginning to take the apartheid issue to the streets. the Wisconsin consciousness was being pricked. In May of 1985. the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. along with 54 other reli- gi ous organ i zat ions appealed to 12 corporations. "key investors in apartheid" (Burroughs. Chevron. Citicorp. Control Data. Fluor. Ford. General Electric. General Motors. IBM. Mobil. Newmont Mining and Texaco) . I n a news re 1 ease sent out on May 20. they ca 11 ed on the above-named corporations to "cease immediately all sales and service relationships with the South African government and its paratotal organizations." They also presented a list of eight other demands that the corporations should "make clear to the South African govern- ment" the following changes in their policies as a "precondition for their remaining in South Africa." They included abandoning officially the "homelands policy"; restoring full political rights. such as freedom of speech. freedom of assembly and voting. to all peoples; guaranteeing the right of all people to own land; and the unconditional release . 6 of all political prl soners. If significant progress toward these goa 1 s had not been achi eved by the end of 1986. then thei r presence in South Africa could not be justified. To pressure these corporations. 5 I bid.. p p . 5-6 . ) 6Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Office for Justice and Peace News Release. May 22. 1985. 10 they promised to introduce shareholder resolutions. acts of public witness. the launching of selective buying campaigns and divestment of their securities if these corporations failed to respond. To my knowledge. there has been no followup to these nice-sounding. conscience-soothing resolutions. I might also add that I do not think these men of the cloth clearly understand the nature of the political. ideological and economic fabric that make up the apartheid system. Nor do I think they understand the role that the huge multinational corporations play in propping up apartheid. The Coalition Builds Momentum Most of the individuals who made up the active core of the Coali- tion could be characterized as radicals. militants. activists or pro- gressives. We were all well aware of this fact and. knowing the impor- tance of gaining popular support for the liberation movement in South Africa. we sought to broaden our ranks. Meanwhi leo we were in need of money and a permanent meeting place to enhance our efforts. Martha Toran agreed to our holding a fundraiser at her nightclub on June 6. 1985. Plans were also being made for a public rally to be held at St. Galls Church on June 23. to support sanctions and divestment legis- lation. We did not want to pass up a great opportunity to publicize our rally. so we also participated in the Juneteenth Day festivities. It was at Juneteenth Day that we encountered some sentiment such as. "Why are you concerned about South Africa?"; or. "You should be trying to help us here in Ameri ca. " Some very healthy exchanges of ideas took place on King Drive that day. I am sure that our organ i zat ion and the people we talked to were mutually enlightened. We collected ) several hundred signatures in support of the Anti-Apartheid Act. 11 As I stated earlier, the core group members were seasoned activists and had participated in numerous other locah and national movements for jobs, equality and justice. But what we did learn and discuss was the necessity of linking the movements for justice and equality in South Africa with similar movements here at home. Wherever there was a march for jobs, a demonstration against Reagan, the contras, or racism, we showed up with our banners. Slogans such as Jobs For America -- Free South Africa, or End Racism at Home and in South Africa were born. We were now in vogue and in demand. The June 23, 1985 rally was a big success and lived up to our efforts to expand our base. Our list of speakers included former Secretary of State Vel Phillips, State Repersentatives Marcia and Spencer Coggs, Warren Braun of the Archdiocese of Mi lwaukee, John Parr / ::-} of District Council #48 of A.F.S.C.M.E. union, and Father James Groppi.* --.:'. We were also most fortunate to have Rigoberta Menchu, Delegate to the U.N. Commission on Refugees and Representative of the Guatemalan Peasant Unity Party address our audience. Finally, a representative from the African National Congress, Solly Simelane, was with us to make our program most complete. Simelane attacked the then much-touted Sullivan Principles: The principles haven't changed anything. The apar theid system remains intact. Multinational corpora tions must forget about ,odes of conduct. They must get out of South Africa. *Father James Groppi was too ill to attend; he died shortly thereafter. 7Standord, Gregory. "African Leader Says Divestiture is the Only Way, II Milw.aukee Journal, June 24, 1985 . ./ '\ t ."ii. "",' 12 It was at this rally that I announced our intention to picket the First Wisconsin Bank , on Nelson Mandela's birthday. Ne 1son Mandel a's 67th bi rthday was approachi ng and we wanted to honor hi m. In conjunction with other efforts across the country, we were able to get the Milwaukee Common Council to pass a resolution declaring July 16 as National Mandela Freedom Day. In a beautifully written resolution introduced by Aldermen Nabors, Donegan, McNulty, McGee and Johnson, it also urged the South Afri can government to free all political prisoners and the U.S. government to withdraw all economic investments from South Africa unti 1 the present system of apartheid 8 is dismantled We held a press conference at City Hall to publicize the Mandel a reso 1ut i on. Aldermen Nabors and Johnson, Betty Thompson of Project Equality, Reverend Joseph Elwaynger and myself participated. It was at thi s press conference that Alderman Nabors "spi 11 ed the beans" on the City of Milwaukee's own role in supporting apartheid by way of the city pension fund. Nabors said he hoped that the city would begin to examine its investments of pension funds in firms doing business in South Africa. It was his understanding that city money so invested was earning between 13% and 18% in interest. But he said, "We're earning it through the blood and tears of our black brothers and sisters.,,9 To further celebrate Mandela's birthday on that beautiful sunshiney day, about 40 of us picketed the First Wisconsin National Bank at 777 East Wisconsin Avenue. State Representative Marcia Coggs told the pi cketers that the bank had many mi 11 ions of doll ars in outstandi ng 8Resolution introduced by Aldermen Nabors, Donegan, Johnson, McGee and McNulty, "Whereas Winnie" and "Nelson Mandela," July 16, 1985. 911Rally Strikes at Apartheid," Milwaukee Journal, July 17, 1985. 13 loans to businesses operating in South Africa. It was at Marcia's urging that we chose to picket First Wisconsin. Our beating the bushes against apartheid was beginning to payoff; the kicked dogs began to bark. In a statement to the press, Charles Hoke, first vice-president and director of personnel and public affairs for First Wisconsin, said he was not aware of any outstanding loans to businesses in South Africa. He did admit to their bank issuing lines of credit for goods being shipped to and from South Africa in order to support the Midwest market. Hoke said the bank president, John H. Hendee, had signed a state ment of conscience that termed apartheid "morally indefensible.,,10 He was referring to a statement that Alderman Nabors and Rabbi Silberg had circulated among Milwaukee-area business people earlier that year. We got a good deal of press coverage that day, and a lot of unfinished business to work on. I n our efforts to promote Nelson Mandel a's freedom, we vi sited the editors of the Milwaukee Journal to secure their support on his behalf. On July 23, in a carefully-worded statement, part of the Journal's editorial read: Specifically, the government needs to begin sharing real political power with black groups, just as it shares power with white groups. At the same time, it ought to release prominent black leader Nelson Mandela unconditionally from prison, where he has served 21 years of a life term for being convicted of plotting violent revolution. The release of Mandela could signal a serious intent on the part of Botha's administration to make meaningful reforms. l1 10 Ibid. 11 rdc. 1' t Orla. 1 , "Pretoria's only hope: reform now," Milwaukee Journal July 23, 1985. 14 A "State of Emergency" was declared in July of 1985 in South Africa. We protested the "State of Emergency" on August 9. Interna- tional South African Women's Day. We assembled at Cith Hall to denounce our local government's ties to apartheid and marched to the Henry Reuss Federa 1 Pl aza to protest our federa 1 government's support for South Africa. Black people were being jailed by the hundreds without charges. indiscriminantly murdered. and the international press was banned. About 75 people participated in the protest. It was during this period that a rather curious group. identifying itsel,f as the United States Out of Southern Africa Committee appeared on the scene. Our initial response was to welcome their efforts and encourage them to work with us. Thei r two ma in organi zers were brand new to the city. Their attempts to imitate our activity and to list the Free South Africa Coalition as a sponsor of their actions without consulting us did arouse suspicion. At one point. they vowed to picket the IBM headquarters, at the Reuss Federal Plaza. every week. They did gather some support at the Milwaukee Area Technical College. but eventually they disappeared. IBM moved its headquarters. and the organizers of the United States Out of Southern Africa Committee moved out of town. Meanwhile, the Coalition was concerned with getting more support from the unions. We were fortunate to have Thozami le Botha. of the South African Congress of Trade Unions. meet with Milwaukee trade unionists. We also slated a very successful rally at the AFSCME union hall on 34th and St. Paul Streets on September 7.1985. We did make some very important inroads with the United Electrica 1 Workers. United Auto Workers, Smith Steelworkers and Meatcutters Unions. A large con- 15 tingent from the State, County & Municipal Employees Union (AFSCME) attended as we 11. Politically speaking, that may have been one of our most important gatherings. Over 200 people attended our rally on that very hot Saturday. Marci a Coggs was there to en 1i st support for the divestment bill and to get people to attend the upcoming public hearing. (Just as a footnote, this was the rally about which one of our member groups, the All Peoples' Congress, was caught "publicizing" at the A.a. Smith factory. This would have been fine, except for the fact that nowhere did they mention the Free South Africa Coalition as the sponsor of Thozamnile Botha's appearance. Instead, theyadver- tised our rally as being sponsored by some anti-apartheid committee of the All Peoples' Congress that never existed before. Needless to say they caught hell at our next meeting.) More on A.B. 54 On September 25, 1985, the Assembly Ways and Means Committee con- ducted a public hearing on divestment at the Department of Natural Resources on North Avenue and King Drive. Very many people attended, testimony lasted throughout the day. Congressman Moody urged divest- ment, stating that Ameri cans control 70% of the computer market, 44% of the petroleum market and 30% of the auto and truck market in South Afri ca. He further stated that the United States could not remain neutra 1 toward South Africa and that divestment did have an effect 12 on the South Afri can economy. And of course, the argument not to divest because it could hurt Black people surfaced. Thi s argument was laid to rest by Dumisane Kumalo, a former South African journalist, 12Stanford, Gregory. "S. African pleads for divestment," Milwaukee Journa 1, September 25, 1985. 16 and Project Director for the American Committee on Africa. He told the state legislators. "If you are so interested in helping Black people. why don't you try to help some right here in your own state? I'm sure there are plenty of Blacks even here in Milwaukee who are looking for jobs. Why don't you help them?" That same day 400 students marched on the Capitol in Madison. demanding that the state stop investing retirement funds in firms doing business in South Africa. The students at Marquette University were also beginning to organize. At an initial organizing meeting that I was asked to speak at, I was pleasantly surprised to see no less than 150 people in attendance. They were revi vi ng the efforts that Howard Fuller, Kathy Green, Robert Lowe and Anthony Bradford had initiated nearly ten years earlier. ",, Their first public meeting would be a debate: "South Africa: ) What Do We Do About Apartheid?" On October 7, 1985. at the Varsity Theater. Randall Robinson, Director of Transafrica. debated John H. Chettle. Director. North and South America of the South African Founda- tion. Needless to say, Robinson made minced meat of the South African proponent. The students at Marquette, "call i ng themselves the South Afri can Coalition, have been vigilant over the past three years to have their university divest its holdings from corporations that do business in South Afri ca. This has included picketing the Chancellor's office and public rallies and meetings. More recently. several activists, inc 1 udi ng Don Timmerman of Cas a Mari a, were arrested at a s it-i n at the Chancellor's office to protest Marquette's slowness to divest. The students are to be commended for their efforts thus far. It seems that students that go to this privately-funded. Christian institution. 17 come under much closer scrutiny than students at public universities. As of September 1987, Marquette had $4,503,646 invested in 25 companies in South Afri ca. Will the City of Milwaukee Divest? Meanwhile, on October 1,1985, the Milwaukee Common Council began to respond to the concerns raised by Alderman Nabors. The Counci 1 passed a reso 1 ut i on to have a pri vate consultant do an ana 1ys is of City pension funds with companies that invest in the Republic of South Afri ca. They further requested 1ega 1 advi ce from the Ci ty Attorney's office. In an October 11, 1985 memo to the Steering and Rules Commit- tee, City Attorney Langley and Special Deputy City Attorney sent their opinion. In part, it read: Re: Common Council Resolution File No. 85-1083 . . We see no legal impediment to the Common Council conducting a study of the type indicated by this resolution. In making a determination as to whether to conduct a' study, you should be aware of the following: 1. Although the City makes annual contribu tions to the Employes' Retirement System, the assets of the Employes' Retirement System are not owned by the City. They are held in the name of the Employes' Retirement System in trust for the payment of bene fits under the Employes' Retirement Act: The Annuity and Pension Board has a fiduciary responsibility in regard to the investment of pension funds. The Annuity and Pension Board is not subject to the con trol of the Common Council in the exercise of its fiduciary responsibilities. Secs. 36.09 and 36. 13(4)(c), Milw~ukee City Charter, 1971 campi la t i on as amended. I What we begin to see here, is a whole web of bureaucracy as to who has authority to direct how the city pension funds may be invested. But above all, is the issue of fiduciary responsibility. the Common Council has what is known as "home rule authority," with respect to 13Resolution relating to analysis of the investment of city pension funds regarding South Africa, Common Council File #85-1083. the Employes l Retirement Act, legislated by the State; however, author- ized investments for the Employes l Retirement Act continue to be regu- 14 lated by state statutes. Sec. 66.82, Stats. In other words, City Pension Funds across the state are not to take morality into considera- tion as to how their money is invested; only profit. I will have much more to say about this later. As the city fathers and mothers sorted out the legalities involved in divestiture, we of the Free South Africa Coalition assembled the 1argest anti-apartheid demonstration in our city to date. October 11. 1985 was also South African Political Prisoners Day, a national day of protest for the movement in solidarity with the people of South Africa. We enlisted the endorsements of Qver 50 organizations and individuals. Both the Common Council and County Board passed reso 1 u- tions supporting our rally and condemning apartheid. The list of speakers was almost endless: Representat~ves Marcia Coggs. Spencer Coggs and Dismas Becker; County Supervisors Terrance Pitts and Dorothy Dean; Congressman Moody; community activists Lucille Berrien. Ms. Myrtle Lacy of the Justice for Ernest Lacy Coalition, Mary Harrell of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. Bruce Colburn of the Amalgamated Transit Workers Union. Barbara White and myself on behalf of the Coali- tion; and Dr. Bengu and Barrington MIBelle of South Africa. Even well- known enterta i ners. Mary Davi s and Harvey Scales performed IIWe Are The World ll and IIIf I Had A Hammer.1I I shall never forget Harvey Scales, hammer in hand. singing, Ilrocking ll Wisconsin Avenue, as over 300 people sang, III I m gonna h ammer ou t JUS . t'lce ... 11 14 Ibid. 19 We had some internal differences raised by the same opportunistic . forces in the Coalition in preparation for the October 11th rally. The ultra-leftists felt that there were too many speakers and some of them were either too bourgeoi s or too estab 1 i shment ori ented. The essence of their argument was that we were giving some of these people a platform that they did not deserve. I argued that "we built the platform" and if, in the future, these politicians, or whoever else they were referring to, proved unworthy, the same people who bui lt this movement could then expose the alleged insincere ones. Needless to say, this has not been necessary, and the finger-pointing opportun- ists who were in our own ranks have since faded away. I do not want to close on this particular effort, October 11th, without mentioning that this was the rally at which we also discovered that the Milwaukee ,. Pol ice Department IS Tactical Unit, otherwise known as the "Red Squad." was spying on us. To end on a more positive note. that evening we held a fundraiser at the Main Event Lounge and raised over $1.000! We sent $300 to the African National Congress in New York. I also want to make mention of the efforts of two splendid, dedi- cated organizers without whom the results could not have been the same. Two sisters. not related. Hettie and Barbara White. both remain active to this day. On Thanksgiving Day, Alderman Nabors opened the doors of his church. Community 8apti st. for an Ecumeni ca 1 Gatheri ng to celebrate the efforts thus far for a FREE South Africa. A beautiful service was conducted. both Reverend Nabors and Rabbi Barry Silberg spoke elo- quently of the need for our solidarity with the people of South Africa. and a collection was taken. from which the Community Baptist Church presented our Coalition with over $300. 20 Second Phase -- Meetings. Meetings. Meetinqs We would now enter what I would call the second phase of the Coali- tion's efforts. It was getting cold and we would take our fight from the streets to the suites of City Hall. We requested a meeting with the Mayor. Henry Maier, to discuss the city's pension fund. We also requested a meeting with the City of Milwaukee's Annuity and Pension Board. On December 7. 1985. several of us attended a statewide confer- ence in Stevens Point to discuss strategies for divestment. On December 12, due to the efforts of the Labor-Farm Party, a meeting was held to confront Police Chief Ziarnik regarding the surveilance of our demon- strations. When Ziarnik took over as Police Chief, he made a statement to the effect that there would be no more spying on community organiza- tions. Ziarnik, while congenial in his manner, suggested that certain r -& groups, probably not the Free South Africa Coalition, would be surveiled . ~.. in the interest of the city's safety. We told him both in an "Open Letter" and to his face that the uniformed police who were present at all of our protests were quite cooperative and sufficient. Further- more, there was not any need to keep files and spy on any of our activi- ties that were all open to the public. On a cold Monday night, December 16, South African Heroes Day, we showed the film "Generations of Resistance" to a small, but enthus- iastic crowd at the Martin Luther King Center. We ended a very active year of protest with our first meeting before the City Pension and Annuity Board on December 18, 1985. Alder- man Nabors addressed the Board and told them that since they did not concern themselves with the moral question of investing their money, that they might as well invest their fund in pornography. There would be a great deal of profit in pornography too. I also made some remarks 21 hop i ng to appea 1 to the con sc i ence of the boa rd members. I was to 1 d that this approach would not work. So far the person who told me that has been right. The meeting adjourned and they took our remarks under advisement. The Free South Africa Coalition continued to take the anti-apar- thei d movement to the streets, spread the word against Shell Oi 1 and established a student organization at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. The City Pension and Annuity Board continued to drag its feet. In 1986, we were able to commemorate the anniversary of Dr. King's assasination. On April 4, about 100 of us picketed the Reuss Federal Building. The theme was "Say No to Apartheid in South Africa, Say Yes to Jobs and Equality at Home." In June, three of us -- Kehinde Lumumba, Barbara White and myself participated in a National Protest Against Apartheid. I t was a great source of inspiration to be among 100,000 other militant anti- apartheid activists in New York's Central Park. We got back to Mil- waukee in time to participate in the first picket line to protest Shell Oil's support for apartheid. On June 16, we commemorated the 10th anniversary of the SowetoUprising by temporarily clOSing down a Shell gas station on 20th and Capitol Drive. We were careful to select a station that was directly owned by Shell and not a sublet station, belonging to some small businessman. We did not want to be accused of hurting a small business person. This tactic of conscience raiSing worked so well that we would do it often throughout the summer of 1986. Wi th s i gn~ that read "Get the Shell Out of South Afri ca," "Don't Put 22 Blood in Your Gas Tank," "Honk If You Hate Apartheid," etc. We leaf- leted many potential customers who understood immediately our concerns and the station soon put its closed sign in the window. This particular station was located in the heart of the Black community. The solidarity and support for the Black people of South Africa was clearly evinced by the support we received for the boycott. In the fall, we finally got some TV coverage for our efforts. The manager admi tted to our hurting "his" business. Another very talented and enthusiastic organ- izer had joined our ranks and really helped with the Boycott Shell efforts. Her name is Terry Davis, of the United Electrical Workers Union. I would like to add here that Milwaukee's Black press, the ~lil- waukee Community Journal, Milwaukee Courier and Milwaukee Times, have .- ,.. ,J been very supportive of the movement to end apartheid. William Rogers of the Milwaukee Community Journal wrote a fine series on the history of South Africa and the eventual arrival of apartheid. On July 18, 1986, we again paid homage to Nelson Mandela. We had a rally, party and fundraiser at the Main Event Lounge. A plaque was presented to Marcia Coggs for her efforts to have the state divest its two billion dollars it has invested in corporations that do business ;n South Africa. On August 9, South African Women's Day, we again shut down "our" gas station on 20th and Capitol. Afterwards, we walked over to the Vel Phillips YWCA and watched a film about Winnie Mandela. In September 1986, Kehinde Lumumba, Pam Rotella and myself, with the support of the Black Students' and Afr; can Students' Un; ons of UWM organized a group called Students For A Free Southern Africa. Our 23 first project was to have Victor Mashabela, United Nations representa- tive of the African Nationa 1 Congress, speak on our campus on Septem- ber 26, 1986. On that Friday afternoon, over 100 students heard Mashabela's moving account of the current crisis facing his people. The next day, Mashabela joined us on the picket line and we again closed down Shell. That evening. we held a benefit for the ANC at Incarnation Lutheran Church. It was a tremendous success. The almost 200 guests were treated to fine African food and music. Mashabela gave a moving speech, as did Professor Ronald Edari of UWM. A whole group of people was responsible for Mashabela's great stay in Milwaukee. those that stand out in my mind are Stella Nana-Fabu. Kwame Mwaniki, Joel Bechi- tsao, Barbara White, Cherly Noble, Fafma Abdalla, Pascal Ngoboka and Ron Edari. I would also like to add that during Victor Mashabela's stay, we arranged for him to be interviewed by Milwaukee Journal news reporter Gregory Stanford. They met for over an hour and a half. An article never appeared as a result ,of the interview. Some weeks later, when we confronted Stanford about this, we were told that it was an editorial decision not to run the story. In the fall of 1986. the Anti-Apartheid Act was passed by Congress over President Reagan's veto. Meanwhi 1 e, in Mi lwaukee, the Finance and Personnel Committee reviewed their long-awaited study on the impact of divesting the City Pension Fund. The divestment study, conducted by Becker, Burke Associates Incorporated. listed 59 major cities and 17 states as governmental systems that have adopted some form of divest- ment as evidence supporting divestiture. The pros and cons of both long-range and short-range divestiture were argued. On November 24, 24 1986, the Finance and Personnel Committee sent this referral notice to the City Annuity and Pension Board: Ask the money managers to implement a full and three years deferred divestment from South Africa and report back rg Finance and Personnel Committee by January 1, 1987. The Annuity Board, not being guided by a conscience, only its fiduciary responsibilities, again sought legal advice from the City Attorney's office. Let me state here that for those of us who sat through a number of Pension Board meetings, it was obvious that the Board resented the Common Council interfering in their financial affairs. The 1ega 1 opinion read, in part: . We are of the oplnlon that the Annuity and Pension Board may not establish investment criteria which have as their predominant purpose social or political considerations involving someth1gg other than protection of the trust beneficiary. The City Attorney's office cited the following quote from a book entitled, Social Investing for Pension Funds: For Love or Money: ... So many sound, profitable and major U.S. companies deal with South Africa that excluding them from the universe of available securities for a portfolio would, we argued, severely limit the list of securities that could be bought and could thus potentially lessen the opportunity to maximize fund performance.. It is estimated that nearly half of the total market value of all stocks listed in the Standard and Poor's 500 Index covers companies doing business in South Africa. And from the same book: Conversely, since fewer institutions would buy these securities, there will be less upward pressure on the stock. Moreover, given the fact that over 600 people have been killed in South Africa and that violence continues unabated, there is good reason for a prudent trustee to worry that the company or bank with interest in South Africa may have its \ i 15Summary of Re 1evant South Afri can Di vestiture I nformati on - Office of the Annuity and Pension Board, p. 1. 16 City of Milwaukee, Office of City Attorney, Indexed Social T ... "o<:"+;...... noromho'" 1? 1001=; property damaged; and indeed, that ultimately there could be stringent controls puton export of profits from South Africa to the United States or even that there might be confiscation in case of a revolution. We doubt that any trustee would be embarassed by failing to invest in a company with heavy participa t~o~ in Beirut 017Belfast for somewhat slmllar reasons. I have gone on at length in regard to the Annuity and Pension Board of Milwaukee only to show that they were privy to a great deal of information. In addition to the study conducted by the Common Council, at a cost of $10,000 tax dollars, the Pension Board conducted not one, but two private studies for an additional S35,000 tax dollars! On September 3, 1987, Alderman Marvin Pratt. Gabriele Mack of the Association of Black City Employees, Barbara White and I of the Coalition again appeared before the Board to appeal for divestiture. I n a six to one vote, the Board voted to accept the report of Call an Associates. This amounted to no action to divest. On September 28 , frustrated by the continuous foot-dragging and maneuvering by his fellow Board members, Alderman Cullen insisted on a clearcut vote to divest or not to divest. For the record, the vote was: Cullen and Pellowski for divestment; Bayer, Brazgel, Cogswell, Mories, Slater and Levan against. Many Groups Get Involved 1987 was not a total disappointment for the anti-apartheid movement here in Milwaukee. On Dr. King's birthday, we picketed City Hall and later that day, picketed alongside the striking Patrick Cudahy workers. Other organizations also began to get involved: the Women's Interna- tional League for Peace and Freedom sponsored a tour of a South African woman; the Lutheran Campus Ministry brought the cause of the Namibian 17Ld., pp. 8 -. 9 people to our city with a tour by Joe Diesicho; a group called Youth for Peace set up their version of a shanty town on a church lawn of Milwaukee's east side. Perhaps the most exciting development was the birth of an organiza- tion called Visions and Voices Against Apartheid. Taki Raton. Francine Triplett. Ann Filemyr and Faye Jackson were among the initial founders of this group. Over the past year. VAVAA has hosted a symposium at UWM which included an impressive array of speakers. They also brought a beautiful art exhibit called Artists in Exile to the UWM campus. They have sponsored a film series and a poetry reading that gave birth to a booklet of passionate poems of people struggling to be free. Perhaps their biggest event was a cultural presentation put together at MATC. It was a smashing success that combined local poets. singers and dancers. The Ko-Thi dance group was a special treat for the over 400 people in the audience. While mentioning organizations. I would not want to leave out the Milwaukee Commission on Community Relations which sponsored a post- card campaign to save the children who were being jailed during the state of emergency in South Afri ca. They also compi 1 ed an impress i ve library of films and catalogues on the South African struggle. This group has since fallen under the ax of our new mayor's budget. Project Equality has also helped to raise consciousness throughout the religious community. In addition. they sponsored a special showing of the film Cry Freedom. The Pan African Socialist Unity Party has also strongly editorial- ized in its newspaper. the Nmkrumist. and sponsored a radio call-in , ~, .J show supporting the movement for a free Southern Africa . 27 ..-- Nor can I forget the fact that the Students for a Free Southern . ') Africa also co-sponsored, to a full house, the premiere showing of Cry Freedom at the UWr~-Union Cinema. A rally featuring author of Biko, Donald Woods, was also attended by several hundred people. We were also honored to have Maki Mandela, daughter of Nelson Mandela, appear on campus. UWM's Black Student Union sponsored a very earnest discussion session of South Africa during Black History Month. I take the time to mention the efforts of these various organiza- tions because their activities have proven that there is a tremendous amount of solidarity in our city for the people of Southern Africa. On August 5, 1988, a much-needed boost was given to the local movement with a March for Mandela. This effort was initiated by Doris Green of Project Respect and held in conjunction with the first day of Afro- fest '88. Around 200 people marched down King Drive and to the Summer- fest grounds in 90 degree heat. That night, things were kept hot with the "rough and ready" sounds of Hugh Masekela. In November of 1988 our own professor, Dr. Be11egarde-Smith spoke on South Africa, "Diamonds are Forever, South Africa is Not." Also in November, the City of Milwaukee established a Sister City status with a township known as Potsdam. The people of Potsdam were forcibly removed from their original home of Blue Rock. The effort to establish sister-city relations with South African townships has also taken place in Berkley, California and St. Paul, Minnesota. In lieu of the inter- nat i ona 1 effort to i so 1 ate the South Afri can government, I am still not sure that this is a correct strategy to enlist solidarity for the South African peop~e. A far greater show of support would be for our city to divest its $228 million of pension-fund money. The local people 28 who initiated this effort are progressive and have good intentions. We of the Coalition have relayed this development to the national office of the African National Congress and are awaiting further discussion. One thing is certain: we will not allow the local press to get hold of any principled differences that we may have with this Sister City approach. We feel the less said about differences in tactics. the better. The Mayor and city officials who embrace this Sister City project also say that they support divestment. We will hold them accountable to this end. To try and tie a few loose ends: The bill to have the state divest was defeated. I n a clever maneuver. Assemblyman Woods introduced an amendment that would allow for divestment if at least 15% of the State employees could be enlisted to start a separate. South Africa-free. \ ! pension fund. This version passed the Assembly and died in a committee of the House. We never got to meet with ex-Mayor Ma i er. as he referred us months after we requested to meet with him, to the Annuity and Pension Board. We had already met twice with the Pension Board. Good Riddance. Henry! This past December 9. 1988. on the even of Human Rights Day. for the second straight year. we assembled a Candlelight Vigil at City Hall to burn the conscience of our city officials. This year. we had representatives from six different anti-apartheid organizations from throughout the state. Upon conclusion of the Vigil, we met and formed a statewide group that we named Wisconsin Against Apartheid. As a preliminary project, we decided to circulate a petition in support of the Anti-Apartheid Act. which calls for strict sanctions against South Africa. We hope to generate enough discussion around the state to make support for Reagan I s constructive · engagement ali abi 1 i ty for 29 -., people like Senator Kasten. We also discussed the possibility of a statewide referendum aimed at divesting Wisconsin's two billion dollars of state pension funds invested in corporations that prop up apartheid. We are going to win this fight to divest and to impose sanctions against racist South Africa. Due to the movement, we have all come to have a better understanding of the evil ideology and economic system that would "legally" encslave 23 million Black people. Due to the movement, we have come to know of a heroi c and courageous people that have resisted and fought back with every generation without fail. I, for one, having four children, could not sit back, knowing what we know, and have one of them ask me, "What did you do to stop apartheid dad?" Not only do they know, sometimes you might even find one of them on the picketline. One day soon there will be a world celebration because South Africa will no longer be and the cries will be heard, AMANDLA, Long Live Azania! We in the movement to Free Southern Afri ca have 1 earned a great dea 1. More coordination is required between any future legislative and movement-type activity. More coordination between local, state and national organizations is required. More people, more moeny and more support for the heroic people is required. I am confident that this will be done. To borrow a slogan from the people of South Africa, WE ARE NOT MOURNING WE ARE MOBILIZING! Brian M. Verdin December 1988 30