THE AME~J;CAN COMMITTEE ON AFRICA 198 Bway NYC 10038 #962-1210 The Crisis in Southern Africa and "For Better Not For Worse"

Under South African apartheid the white minority controls all the wealth of the country in partnership with western multinationals and with the backing of the major western powers: the United States, Britain, France, and West Germany. The wealth is produced by the labor of the Black majority, primarily the African population who are deprived of citizenship in 87% of the country and deemed "citizens" of the "homelands" which comprise 13% of the most desolate land in South Africa. In these "homelands" one-half of all African children die before the age of five. Unable t{) subsist in the "homelands", the African majority (72% of the total population) is forced to work for starvation wages in the "white areas" where they have no political or economic rights and all movement. is controlled under the hated pass-book system.

Apartheid can only be maintained through naked violence. In the face of increasing resistance, South Africa has escalated its aggression at home and in the region as part of its "total strategy" to preserve apartheid. Large numbers of trade unionists have been imprisoned, and South Africa has expanded its military operations in Angola as part of its effort to maintain its grip over Namibia. In Mozambique South Africa is conducting large-scale military actions through the Mozambique National Resistance OMNR) which is comprised of former backers of Portuguese colonial rule. Last August, Ruth First a member of the African National Congress and outstanding author of books on Africa, Namibia and corporate investment in South Africa, was killed by a parcel bomb ln her office in Mozambique. This was a prelude to South Africa's barbaric raid into Lesotho two months ago. Early on the morning of December 9, South African troops invaded the capital city of Maseru and murdered 42 people as they slept in their homes. Thirty South African exiles were killed along with 12 Lesotho citizens, including five women and two children. The raid was supposedly directed at ANC military headquarters in Lesotho, though few weapons were captured and the attacks hit five separate residential neighborhoods--one located several blocks from the U.s. embassy.

Despite the war that South Africa is waging throughout the region, the Reagan Administration continues to extol the virtues of its policy of constructive engagement with the apartheid regime. This policy basically involves constructing stronger barriers to freedom in southern Africa: the. latest episode being an "administrative error" through which 2500 electrified batons were shipped to the South African police. At a time when South Africa is waging war with the aid of GM trucks, IBM computers and Mobil Oil, corporate spokesmen also continue to claim that U.S. corporations are forces for "constructive" change.

In the face of U.S./South African collusion, the people of southern Africa have escalated their struggle and the solidarity move­ ment has grown in this country. Following the Lesotho raid, the African National Congress set off four bombs at the heavily guarded Koeberg nuclear plant on December 18. Less than three weeks later the Massachu­ setts state legislature put into law a bill divesting $100 million in pension funds invested in U.S. companies operating in South Africa. The Michigan state legislature also passed a bill requiring public educational institutions to sell their South Africa-linked stocks.

These victories give us all reason to hope for the future in both this country and southern Africa. As "For Better Not For Worse" illustrates humanity and humor cannot be crushed even by apartheid. The future is ours. .. ·c

INFORUATION PACKET (Actors' Biographies and Play Reviews)

TOUR of "FOR BEITER NOT FOR WORSE" by South African playwright SELAELO MAREDI·

A political comedy of hope and struggle for South Africa's future. Masterfully focuses on the lives of people in the- crucible of the liberation struggle to end apartheid.

•:For Better Not For Worse is a stunning piece of theatre ... Contrast Toronto, July 1982 ------Play is available for a minimum fee per performance plus transportation, food and lodging. ·For more infonnation and booking C: PALL l 'II "J) immediately call: (212) 962·1210 Joshua Nessen, American Committee on Africa, 198 Broadway, New York City 10038 1

SELAELO MAREDI

Born in Sophiatown, one of Johannesburg's oldest ghettos, Selaelo was still at school when all the Black families, including his, were "removed from their homes by policemen and bulldozers, because Sophiatown had became attractive to the White coomunity."

He grew up inside the harsh reality of ap'artheid; he knew both the victims and the victors and also the men and women who kept resisting in a thousand ways. Those people live in his plays.

Theatre was an early passion. "I spent most of my school-day weekends going to movies or jazz and festival," he recalls. He dreamed of becoming a play­ wright, director or an actor. When he finished school he began writing short plays; A Little Education Is Dangerous and It's My Blackness They Hate Not Me were his first attempts. He directed them for an enthusiastic Black youth club, and won his first awards with both plays from the South African Youth Club National Theatre.

His next efforts at writing and directing produced two plays for adult audi­ ences; Prosecution and Mboni. In 1971, against tremendous odds, he and some fellow Blacks formed the Experimental Theatre Workshop, open to all races. Theatre Workshop participants concentrated for the first two years on theatre fundamentals through acting, playwriting, technical and directing workshops. The resulting skills development contributed greatly to the current generation of Black South African theatre.

Working in a time of surging Black political consciousness he found himself continually encouraged to step forward on behalf of his people--a stand that led to several confrontations with the security police. From their workshops they came up with several productions: Crossroads, Zzzip, Uhlanga, Smallboy, and Survival. While in the U.S., Mr. Maredi has written several new works and has co-authored others with American playwrights. Homelana earned his cam~ pan~ the Villager Award for excellence and very excited New York reviews, and also won them the Audelco Black Theatre Award for Best Playwriting and Dramatic Production. Since he came to this country, apart from writing and acting, Mr. Maredi has run theatre workshops for many community theatre groups and students on campuses across the country.

His most recent work includes Isintu, a musical variety, The Shield, Vanguish, For Better Not For Worse and co-authored a musical play, Melodi with the well­ known South African musician, Hugh Masekela. His writing earned various awards, including a citation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives in recognition of his "outstanding bravery and dedication to hmnan rights." 2

Moeketsi Bodibe

Moeketsi was born in Alberton near Johannesburg. He started his acting career early during school days. After graduating college he joined the Union Artists in Johannesburg at Dorkai House. He appeared in musicals and dramas such as King Kong, Mother Courage, The Prodigal Son, and Christmas in the Marketplace.

Moeketsi also acted in the films Diamond Hawkers, The Virgin Goddess, Joe Bullard, and Dinganka with Stanley Baker. In addition, he appeared in commercial advertisements and went on an international tour with the musical Ipi Tombi to England, France, Canada, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the United States.

Besides acting, Moeketsi is also a singer, dancer and drummer. 3

Young audience involved by African's play

~~~ .hwk l>awson Finally, Mampane's other daughter writes that she intends to leave the country to join the revolu­ Billed as a "human comedy of hope and strug­ tionary movement. "Dear Father: You have done gle," "For Better, Not For Worse" played Friday all you could in a world of hatred, lies and hypoc­ evening in the E~ast Wing auditorium of the Johns risy. You loved us, are proud of us and you even Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. sent us to school. But fighting is the only choice. I The play, written by the South African playwright will join those who have left before." Selaelo Maredi, focused on the lives of two black When Shaye attempts to have his friend inter­ men who are friends but who experience the hor­ cept her, Mampane responds: "No, let them go. I rors of apartheid in very different ways. knew it would happen. It's got to happen. More Mr. Maredi, a rotund and diminutive man with blood, more violence. She's got no other choice. a comic flair, played Shaye, a happy-go-lucky phi­ ... The sun will soon rise." landerer who seems relatively <~ontent with his Mr. Maredi is obviously skilled at interpolat­ lot. Seph Sibanda, also from the Johannesburg ing humor and other devices such as African area, was Mampane, a confused man looking for parables and folk songs to alleviate tension (for some sense in all the madness. both audience and players) or to change pace. Mampane's wife is dead and one of his daugh­ The dialog is mostly simple, but its overriding ters lives in a refugee camp in Botswana. The message is profound .. That seemed to register other daughter lives in Pretoria. When his exiled with the young audience, a majority of whom daughter becomes ill, Mampane decides to visit stayed to discuss the play and greater South Afri­ her, "with or without a passport." can enigma with the playwright and members of But news of the assassination of the white the African National Congress. prime minister, Hendrik Verwood, calls for a What was particularly interesting was that 200 celebration which the duo enjoy with wine, wom­ young people had paid $3 ($4 at the door) each to en and song. It also provides an opportunity to sit through such weighty fare on a Friday siug folk songs in Sotho, to dance (steps that re­ evening. This was decidedly a 1960s group with­ minded us of the African influence on American out the 1960s paraphernalia. Mark Farfel, of the culture) and to tell ribald tales. sponsoring student assembly, said the students But the joviality is quickly muted by news of have already seen similar programs on Lltin the death of Mampane's sick daughter, blown up America and nuclear proliferation this year. with six friends while opening a package . It is possible many of these young people will An argument breaks out when Mampane ac­ eventually find themselves working on health cuses his friend of not understanding the meaning problems in Third World countries, so this was as of suffering because he still has a wife, children much workshop as entertainment. But the fact and a job. In a brilliant rejoinder, Shayc declares, they chose to be informed at first hand-and on a "This whole life we're living is a nightmare. We Friday evening yet-suggests their generation are all sad, angry and frustrated. Seven innocent may be interested in a more active role. children have died. They are children of my blood too." 4 CONTRAST Jaly 2, 198Z

South African Theatre For better, not for worse By Cllftaa J_,a

F• Better Not p,.. w-i5 a stwmillg pieee of theatre that i5 one of the bright lights of the recent renailsance of Blaek Theatre in racist South Africa. In it, playwright Salaelo Maredi. himself one of the two actors, delivers a searing, poignant and teclmically innovative exploration into some of the agonising results of apartheid and the development of commitment to wage armed struggle againat the brUtality of that system of White supremacy. . The play could very well have been subtitled, "Why To Beeome A Freedom Fighter. .;. or simpler still. "How Come Thi5 Shit Is Still Happening In The World Today?" The action surrounds a bitter. fran tie Blaek, Mampane •. who is separated from hi5 family. His. wife i5 dead, one of his daughters is followed into exile ily the security police and is eventually murdered in Botswana. The other is struggling to go to sehool in Pretoria. Mampane becomes increasingly frustrated and agoniaed with life under oppression and contemplates exile. He is a man on the verge of falling victim to hi5 bitternesa beeause of hi5 reluctance- and frustrations at channelling hi5 anger into action. His bitterness sinks him into despair, individualism and self-pity. But hi5 friend Shai beeomes hi5 mimlr and reaeuer and .serves to remind him that hi5 problems are not private but public agonies suffered and shared by an entire community under the hammer of racial dominatinn. The drsmatic tensinn i5 heightened when Mampane and Shai return from a party half~ k to find that the former's house had been ranucked and burglarized by the security police. Humour is employed when the latter makes a mad rush to get .away from the scene saying "anywhere those people go. its trouble". It is in this and thru hi5 general use of comedy that Maredi. a founding member of Experimental Theatre Workshop '71 (a workshop where theatre fundamentals, including acting, writing and direeting, were taught), proves resourceful and innovative. He provokes laughter through dialogue but more so with geetures and sight gap. He milks laughter from the audience for instance when the two . >lCtors do a song. and dance t.rewell for the Afrikaaner leader Hennk Verwoerd. They use gospel harmonies to parody and ridicule the White populatinn's mourning and use it as an elWJll)le of the unfair and· inhuman treatment meted out to Blacks. The crowd went into rip-roaring belly laughter when Shai shows up dressed for a party in bright. kaleidoseo, oic checkered shirt. pants, jacket and tie. topped off with red and white two-toned shoes. Maredi succesafully UHS comedy to highlight situations of seriousnesa and tragedy. agaiDat oppreaioa are labelled aa terrorists. horridnesa ·of apartheid and i5 a slap in the face of those The didactic nature of hi5 theatre is effortlesa. sharp and to The play is a laboured and dramatieally insightful look at who would label the valiant freedom fighters of Southern the point. Comedy and Tragedy share and command people taldng deeiaive actions againat the continued Africa as terrorists. centre stage in a powerful juxtaposition of emotions in which the joys are high, high and the pains low. low. The effective climax comes in the second act when Mampane receives a letter from hi5 daughter informing him that. she has quit sehool and has decided to join the freedom fighters. She delivers the final plank in the movement towards commitment. The young girl has made a decisive deci5ion: she is going to train in the camps to return to avenge the crimes committed against her people. It i5 an act based upon the conscious and human considerations of right versus wrong, good versus evil and is an action designed and undertaken for better not for worse~ The aesthetics of thi5 kind of theatre are rooted in an African conception of art aa utilitarian and committed. Its moral and political thrusts are on the side of good and againatoppression. 'The dialectics are those of revolution­ ary theatre as it has developed in South Africa during the important years between the start of Workshop '71 and the Soweto uprising of 1976. Many of tbe plays spawned by this upsurge in theatre havJ! been banD~ by the authorities including Workshop "Tls "Survival" and Gibson Kente's ''Too Late". Both of these. along with Credo V. Mutwa's "Nosilimela" and Mthli Shezi's "Shanti" have recently been anthologised in Robert Kavanagh's "South African People's Plays". Salaelo Maredfs "For Better Not For Worse" is and important illustration of revolutionary theatre. It shows people unabashedly committed to change, in thi5 case armed struggle of the freedom fighters. It becomes increasingly important in the face of international politics in which freedom fightersfighting -. 5

The Leader-Post Regina. Saskatchewan Wednesday. November 10, 1982

What's funny about South African apartheid?

By Weatey Dumam lire among blades. particularly lhosc deal with politics. grew a strol'lll thea~ of The Luder-Po81 who demand a better lot in life. Mam- movement. Many youna playwr;!Dtts !lot Wbat's humorous about ~d In pane is the one most affected. There is suarted. but the movement culminated South Africa? Is it acceptable or normal the tragic news that one or his dauab- in 1971. Plays In black townships were to laugh about a monstrous ~y? ters. while living in exile. has bePn consistently clra~·ing W'ge and political­ The irony about SaJaeJo Maredi's For blown up by a booby-trapped pal"t"t'l. ly c:onsciOuS aucbences Ul) to !bat time. Better Not For Worse. on stare last And later another dau!drter. in frustra- Sibanda says. That· s what attriiCted the night and tonight at Wheatland Theatre. tion. decides to leave South Africa to attention oC the security police. is that althougb it is very funny at join the revolutionary movement. Police har'Usment grew In earnest af· times. tragedy is an ever-present. aU- Maredi's colloquial dialoRue Is ter that. he says. Many pla~!Dtts and t~real shadow in the background. masterfuJiy punctuated with silences perfonners were arrested and at least A skilled perfonnanc:e by Ma9!di. an and African-rhythm ~ that in tum one believed killed. internatiOnally respected black Soulh convey bumor. poUtical fervor and sor· And S1banda accuses the South Afri· African actor-playwright. and fellow· row. can government of other tactics: man­ Septt and ~ countryman Sibanda demonstrates Maredi Slbanda more than datory aiftsollShip of scril)ts before that both laughter and grief have their just competent actors. Activists tlM!m· plays ean be performed. and lurin~ place in human struggle. Those who can setves. their wort is ineerided to h:~,-e away many talented black acton and laugh. grieve and love are still worthy of politicallmpac:t. and is actively support· playwrights to help produce govem­ being human. even WJCier the most ed by the African National ConRf'eSS - ment·ap.,.-oved drama. dehumanizing of conditions. widely rec:ognized as the major anti· Maredi. a n=sident ol New Yortc silft apartheid liberation movement in South the earty 197'05. has craned a play that Africa. Before they lett South Africa - ignites a spark ol hope amidst the ashes MaRdi in the early 1970s and Sibanda in of despair. And For BeUer Not For 1117 - to live in New York. both were Worse conveys its highly political mes- Involved In confrontatiOns wtth the se- sage without being dogmatR:. curtty police as a result of their work. The ~ play is set entirely in the Maredi. a prolific playwright. founded lowly one-room dwelling of Mampane the Experimental Tbeatre Woncshop in 1 played by Sibanda 1. located In one of Joftannesburl in 1171. It was a company South Africa's sprawling blade town- involving aD races and wbic:ft dared to ships - what Americans would call a daJ ·wtth human-rights Issues. ghetto. It's~- 19&1. and while tleq)ite his serious themes. he rudil:v Shaye. Mampane's dose fritmd. is pay. makes use of humor. "I use it to relax ing him a visit. Shaye infonns him that the audience and to show that even if the HendJik Verwoerd era oC South Afri· you are ~. Ufe goes on ... can white politics is over. Mampane's His plays dramatize his real-life expe- sombre "mood c:hanps to one of snared rienc:es. Memories of the South African jubilation when Sbaye flnally explains regime's repression are vividly evoked. the prime minister. --:.'"the architect ol , Refl!f'Ting to a tragic scene in the play: at)artheid." has just been ISSaainaU!d. ~·fn tbat split second you forget you are The two friends immediate.ly exit to join ac:ting. It's euy to relate to incidents other blacks in drunken reveJry over tbe tbat ilrlolwll1 friends or immediate ram- news. iJy" MantlJ&M is a serious. eanfuled.. lndi- • · it•a .Dmeume. dl1l1cuJt to c:anvey cer. vidual whose sym~ lie ltraqty tam Ideas to North Amer1cans if they w1th the black liberation movement. de- mow Uttle About Soutb Africa. says sl)ite the hazards oC bolclial such~ Mandl's CeDow actor. Sibanda. But tions in a police state. Sbaye. by can- wbiJe It .. eMier to tet the political trast. is a natural down wt1o lhielawa, ~ .~CrGa in Ilia native C'DUIW'y. from '"politics" of the sort that ~ lead · · there were other problems. the ruthless South African aecurtty ~ .. Biacis were never allowed in lice to an activist's door at any hour. twhit.el tbeatres. They were never aceti- Shaye admits he might be a coward. but matized to theatre. . .. nerefore they adds: "Cowards Uve Jancer... Yet be. are rally iD -.n:t1 ot tbeir OWD kiDd oi too. longs for an. end to the ~ tbutrL" · Tbe piay br1np to life the intJumanity JPftllll VWJ re. bl.8et tbeatre .,.... of a system that rudely disnqla famJly . In 1m. aad even fewer wt» dared to

..., ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

Platfonn for personal expression South Africa's blacks turning to the stage By Devtd G. Wild; Amherst. Mau. :me spotlJgbt moves to Mamplne, revealirJg a /ace ill quish over the trwbies ofIJjs blacJc Soutb Atrfcan broth­ en. Slowly. he sings: ''How lODg are we going to k~ running? w 've bHG cbased by tbe system all our lives IIDI1llt: are lD exile, some ill prtson can anyooe c:all this jutitice, wheft they judge us by the color ofour sl:in 7 •• As the play tinJshes, tbe audience of both whites and blacJcs rises tD Its feet aod glves the actors a standing ovatioQ.

South Atrtea's blacks - denied the right to open politi· cal d1s8ent - have found another plaUorm for expression: thestqe. Tbe scenes above. from "For Better Not for Worse," written by a black South African, were playing here at the THEATER University of Massachusetts. But they could just u well have been on the stage ln Durban. or Johannesburg. or CapeTown. "The movffilent to raise black couac:iousness through our own theater began aboot 12 years aco." ays Selaelo Maredi, a bladt playwrigbt wbo has written or South Africa. then drew rave reviews In London, at the collaborated on more than 14 plays and won awards in Edinburgh Festival, and In Mllllich. There are plans to both South Africa and the Ullited States for hls work. He Is bring the show to New York and Boston SOOil. touring more than 40 US colleges and universities with IUs But the theater moveme:Jt bas persisted and Is grow­ play "For Better Not for Worse." Ing. '1'bn!e years ago, says Maredi. the movement took an Today, Maredl says, there are active black theaters ln important step forward with the founding or FUBA f Fed­ every major city In South Africa, prisenttns plays that erated Union of Black Artists), a black theater organiza· seek to reveal the Uves. ttruggl.es. and hopes of the blacks Uon in .Johll1De:Sburg that provides a perfonnance center of South Africa. One of their Priuclpal aims: to dramatize and school for aspiring black actors. Until that time. be the lnjll5t1ces of the government system of apartheid, or says, theater In South A!ric~ was largely managed and enforced racial separation. Aaotber essential part of this c:outrolled by whites, and fonnal training for black actors tbeater. he says, bas been the revival of traditional forms was almost nonexistent. of Mr1ean culture - poetry, storytelling, and music - Simon, who stU! lives In Soutb. Africa. acknowledges wtdch are often Interwoven with tbe dialogue. that plays that are highly critical of the govemment are ·Tbe plays are baviD& u tmpaet. Accordizlg to Maredl, beillg perfonne

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Welcome •••••••••••••••••••••• Adeyeme Bandele, I.AS-BUF

Act I •••••••••••••••••••••••• The date is 1966

Mampane's room in a suburb of Johannesburg.

Mampane after work is at home when his friend Shai arrives. Prime minister Verwoed - - the " architect" of apartheid -- has just been assasinated and the two friends go off to celebrate.

INTERMISSION

Act II • • • • ••••••• ••• •••••• • •• Mampane 1 s r oom.

Mampane receives word about his daughter who is exiled in Botswana.

Closing • • •• •• •• • •• •••••••••• • Wil ey Vos, ICDAW

Food will be served before the program and during intermission.

PATRONS

Mr. Mel Patrick of Mel Pat Associates

' ..

A SPECIAL THMTKS TO: The Student Government and Black Studies Committee of Medgar Evers College, The Medgar Evers Coalition of Students, Faculty & Community and our Comrade an( Friend Norman Coward for making this showing of For Better Not For Worse possible. Selaelo Maredi

Maredi, playwright, director, plays the part of Shai. rllaredi was born in Sophiatown, one of Johannesburg's oldest ghettos. He was still at school when all the Black families, including his, were "removed from th~ir homes by policemen and bulldozers, because Sophiatown had become attractive to the white community." Theatre was an early passion, and his first efforts were: A Little Education Is Dangerous and It's My Blackness They Hate Not Me which won awards from the South African Youth Club National Theatre. In 1971, against tremendous odds, he and some fellow Blacks formed the Experimental Theatre Workshop, open to all races. From their work­ shops they came up with several productions: Crossroads, Zzzip, Uhlanga, Smallbol, and Survival. Working i n a time of surging Black political consciousness he found himself continually encouraged to step forward on behalf of his people--a stand that led to several confrontations with the security police. While in the u. s., Mr. Maredi co­ authored B_omeland which earned his company the Villager Award for excellence and the Audelco Black Theatre Award for Best Playwriting and Dramatic Production . His most recent work i ncludes Isintu, a musical variety , The Shield, Vanquish, For Better Not For Worse anu he co-authored a musical play, Melodi with the well-knovm South African musician, Hugh Masekela. His writing earned various awards, including a citation from the Massachusetts House of ~epresentatives in recognition of his "outstanding bravery and dedication to human rights."

Moeketsi Bodibe

Bodibe who plays ~IIampane was born in Alberton, near Johannesburg. He started his acting career early during school days. After graduating from college he joined the Union Artist in Johannesburg at Dorkai House. He appeared in musicals and dramas such as King Kong, Mother Courage, The Prodigal Son and Christmas in the Market Place. Moeketsi also acted in the films: Diamond Hawkers, The Virgin Goddess, Joe Bullard, a~ d Dingaka with Stanley Baker. Inaddition he appeared in commerc i al advertisements and went on an international tour with the musical Ipi Tombi to England, France, Canada, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and United States. Besides acting Moeketsi also is a singer, dancer and drummer. ••• About Sponsoring Organizations

The American Committee on Africa (ACOA~

The ACOA was founded in 1953 to support struggles for independence in Africa. In its early years it arranged for tours of such figures as Kwame Nkrumah. The ACOA currently focuses on supporting the liberation struggles in Southern Africa through work to break all u.s. ties to apartheid -- notably economic disinvestment -- and through material support to the liberation movements in conjunction with its associated organization, the Africa Fund. The ACOA is currently organizing the National Tour of 11 For Better Not For \Vorse 11 and mobilizing for Days of Solidarity this Spring; March 21, April 4 and April 6 which will be a National Armband Day marking the 4th Anniversary of the hanging of Solomon Mahlangu, a young .ANC freedom fighter. The International Affairs Section (lAS) - BUF

The International Affairs Section is an important Section of the Black United Front. It has been actively committed to and supportive of the struggles of Black people in South Africa, as well as the Carribean and struggles of other oppressed people, since its inception in 1978. IAS has sponsored or co-sponsored several forums, demonstrations and other activities, throughout the Metropolitan NY area, to popularize the plight of the oppressed Black majority in South Africa. lAS also plays a leading role in the recently formed Coalition To End Cultural Collaboration. This Coalition is presently engaged in organizing and mobilizing boy­ cotts of entertainers who have blatantly ignored ~~e L~ternational sanctions against South Africa and have performed there.

The International Committee For ~e Defense of African Vlorkers (ICD AVI)

The ICDA\7 was formed in 1981 with Sections in the u.s., Canaca, and France. It is in support of the struggles of workers, peasants and oppressed nationalities through­ out the world. Its first successful campaign was waged to free 8 Ivory Coast workers who were brutally jailed by Houghuet Boigney 1 s regime. The 8 were freed in 12/81, as a result of international support. Since that campaign ICDAW has been actively involved in the support of 5 young political prisoners of Kimberley, South Africa, as well as the whole movement to liberate the oppressed Black majority; the African immigrants in France; the Haitian immigrants in the u. s. and Canada; the Palestian people and t he Iranian people. ICD.AW also supports the right of self-determination and struggle for democratic rights of Blacks in the u.s.