The leaflet says Drake Koka, general secretary of the Black Allied Workers Union (BAWU) of South Africa, began a seven-week tour of the U.S. on October 2, speak about political prisoners in South Africa and the fight for Black majority rule. Koka has been indicted by the South African government as a "co-conspirator" in the frame-up trial of 11 Soweto student leaders charged with "sedition" and "terrorism"; that trial is now under way in the town of Kempton Park, near Johannesburg. Koka was also a co-founder and first general secretary of the Black People's Convention, an umbrella organization that developed out of the Black Consciousness Movement. After the...
The leaflet says Drake Koka, general secretary of the Black Allied Workers Union (BAWU) of South Africa, began a seven-week tour of the U.S. on October 2, speak about political prisoners in South Africa and the fight for Black majority rule. Koka has been indicted by the South African government as a "co-conspirator" in the frame-up trial of 11 Soweto student leaders charged with "sedition" and "terrorism"; that trial is now under way in the town of Kempton Park, near Johannesburg. Koka was also a co-founder and first general secretary of the Black People's Convention, an umbrella organization that developed out of the Black Consciousness Movement. After the June 1976 Soweto rebellion, Koka was again banned and escaped to Botswana to avoid arrest. The leaflet includes Partial List of Drake Koka Tour Endorsers (organizations for identification purposes only): Ralph David Abernathy, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); Black Leadership Caucus, Cleveland Federation of Labor; Julian Bond; Dennis Brutus; Pete Camarata, Teamsters for a Democratic Union; Clyde Cleveland, Detroit City Council; Congressman John Conyers; Jim Davis, Ad Hoc Coalition of Concerned Steelworkers; Congressman Ronald Dellums; Detroit NAACP; Koko Farrow, Africa Project Dir., United Church of Christ Commission on Racial Justice; Ruth Gage-Colby; Jerry Gordon, International Rep., Amalgamated Meatcutters and Butcher Workmen; Patrick E. Gorman, Chairman of the Board, Amalgamated Meatcutters; Greenwich Village-Chelsea NAACP, NY; Michael Harrington, National Chair, Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC); Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression; David McReynolds, War Resisters League; Detroit National Lawyers Guild; Horace Sheffield, Pres. Detroit CBTU (Coalition of Black Trade Unionists), Administrative Asst. to Douglas Fraser; Sonia Sanchez; Leslie Winters, Clergy and Laity Concerned. [Note on date: Koka addressed an October conference on October 20 at Northwestern University; see a Divestiture Working Group leaflet on this website.]
