African Activist Archive

Contents: WHO WE ARE • WHAT WE'VE DONE • NEWS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY • DEMO AGAINST FOOTE • SHIP DUE - MARCH 21! • POST SCRIPTS • The newsletter says the goal of the Coalition to Stop Rhodesian Imports is to close the Philadelphia port to Rhodesian goods. It seek to support the Zimbabwean people in their struggle for freedom against the racist oppression of the white minority settler government. Only by international solidarity among workers and effective education by and among affected workers, students, and others can a complete boycott be maintained and pressure put on the U.S. government to reinstate the embargo. The Coalition has postponed the unloading of the African Sun on Nov. 30 (at a cost to the Farrell Shipping Lines of $3700) and the African Neptune on Dec. 15 and 16, which was unloaded at night by non-union labor. Fifty people attended a meeting on Feb. 10 with Tapson Maware of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and the film "A Luta Continua" about the anti-colonial struggle in Mozambique. The steering committee has two sub-committees (for working with longshoremen and education and research) and has also assembled information on the struggle in Zimbabwe, the role of U.S. corporations and government, and other boycotts around the country. A new group in Boston turned out pickets on a few days' notice to greet the African Sun on March 6; although the ship was unloaded, boycott supporters feel that headway was made towards gaining the support of the longshoremen. In Baltimore, on March 3, 175 people attended a mass meeting to hear ZANU representatives, Congressman Parren Mitchell, Phillip Berrigan, and Judge William Booth speak about southern Africa. In San Francisco, on February 15, dockworkers honored a picket line and refused to unload South African goods. The Foote Mineral Co., the second largest US investor in Zimbabwe, lobbied strongly to have the sanctions lifted. A protest is planned at its annual stockholders meeting on April 25 in Philadelphia. The African Sun, bearing asbestos, is due to arrive at the Packer Ave Marine Terminal on March 21; picketers are needed to help support and encourage dockworkers to stay away. On African Liberation Day, May 25, there will be a mass demonstration in Washington, D.C. against racism, colonialism and imperialism. The newsletter also mentions the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the Philadelphia Workers Organizing Committee, Revolutionary Union (RU), the Peoples' Fund, Life Center Collective, Philadelphia Resistance, Black Economic Development Conference, Black United Liberation Front, Venceremos Brigade, African students, the University of Pennsylvania, a demonstration at International House, and Portugal.

African Activist Archive

News from the Coalition to Stop Rhodesian Imports

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