Free South Africa Movement

The Free South Africa Movement (FSAM) was a coalition of individuals, organisations, students, and unions across the United States of America who sought to end Apartheid in South Africa. With local branches throughout the country, it was the primary anti-Apartheid movement in the United States.

Formation

The movement began when Randall Robinson, Executive Director of TransAfrica, Dr. Mary Frances Berry, Commissioner of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, D.C. Congressman Walter Fauntroy; and Georgetown University law professor Eleanor Holmes Norton met with the South African Ambassador to the US at the Washington DC embassy to highlight human rights abuses in South Africa. They demanded the release of political prisoners in South Africa, and refused to leave the South African embassy by staging a sit-in, which led to the arrest of Robinson, Fauntroy and Berry. Norton was not arrested because she was addressing the media outside of the embassy, which had been notified beforehand. The sit-in was planned to coincide with Thanksgiving Day to ensure wide press coverage and to appeal to the families that were gathering for the holiday. Thereafter, TransAfrica organized daily protests outside the embassy. These protests helped create FSAM.

Randall Robinson's organization, TransAfrica, was a founding member of FSAM, and played a key role in its development. They continued their strike outside the embassy, and organized high profile individuals to join the protests. FSAM developed into a coalition of anti-apartheid organizations and its actions against apartheid influenced the US sanctions against South Africa.

Anti-Apartheid Protests

After the formation of FSAM, demonstrations at South African consulates continued. This included various celebrities and activists who tied themselves to trees. Within a year, there were more than 4,500 arrests. Local branches of FSAM formed in cities across the country.

Significance

The combined leadership of FSAM, TransAfrica and the Congressional Black Caucus together with the commitment of private citizens around the country, led to the passage of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, after which many European countries followed suit by enacting their own anti-apartheid sanctions. FSAM is arguably the most important and successful initiative undertaken by black private citizens that was brought to the mainstream since the civil rights era. It expanded the influence of African Americans in forming US foreign policy.

See also

TransAfrica