Kansas City Anti-Apartheid Network

The Kansas City Anti-Apartheid Network (KCAAN) was formed in 1984. KCAAN was made up of a group of organizations (Black United Front, SCLC, NAACP, Interfaith Peace Alliance, Coalition of 100 Black Women, Greater KC Central Labor Council, NOW, Central America Solidarity Coalition, Socialist Workers Party, Metropolitan Lutheran Ministry, Leonard Peltier Support Group, Coalition for Palestinian Rights, KC UAW CAP Council and others) and individuals. Over a 5-6 year period KCAAN engaged in a number of activities and events: 1) KCAAN participated in the cultural boycott against artists who performed in South Africa. KCAAN had two highly successful boycotts and demonstrations against concerts by Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra in 1986. 2) KCAAN worked for divestment from companies doing business in apartheid South Africa. KCAAN succeeded in getting pension fund divestment legislation passed in Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City; Kansas. KCAAN also supported successful campaigns that achieved divestment by Kansas City Area Transportation Authority and the University of Missouri. 3) KCAAN held a successful march and rally on the 10th anniversary of the Soweto massacre (June 1986) at which some 600 people participated. 4) KCAAN held fund-raising events with the movies Cry Freedom and Witness to Apartheid. 5) KCAAN participated in the April 25, 1987, March for Peace and Freedom in Southern Africa and Central America in Washington. 6) KCAAN held numerous meetings over the years featuring speakers from both the African National Congress (ANC) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) of Azania. (Source: Mickey Dean, coordinator of the Kansas City Anti-Apartheid Network)