Contents: The Challenge • Purpose • History • Means • Americans need to be more aware and involved in foreign issues. The world has become smaller because of the communications revolution, expanding trade, nationalism, and the East-West ideological rivalry. The oil crisis aggravated both unemployment and inflation, and by the year 2000, the U.S. will be importing 80% of critical industrial materials used such as cobalt, chromium, diamonds, copper, iron ore, and manganese. Africa is the region with the largest reserves, and it promises to be a significant supplier of these minerals. Greater attention must be paid to the continent's staggering economic and political problems. TransAfrica,...
Contents: The Challenge • Purpose • History • Means • Americans need to be more aware and involved in foreign issues. The world has become smaller because of the communications revolution, expanding trade, nationalism, and the East-West ideological rivalry. The oil crisis aggravated both unemployment and inflation, and by the year 2000, the U.S. will be importing 80% of critical industrial materials used such as cobalt, chromium, diamonds, copper, iron ore, and manganese. Africa is the region with the largest reserves, and it promises to be a significant supplier of these minerals. Greater attention must be paid to the continent's staggering economic and political problems. TransAfrica, a public policy, non-profit membership organization, seeks to influence U.S. foreign policy toward Africa and the Caribbean in a progressive fashion. TransAfrica strives to introduce the views of Afro-Americans into the decision-making process and to increase public awareness on important issues. Use letters, community forums, and votes to let your opinion be known. TransAfrica advocates economic sanctions against South Africa and forceful diplomacy that will impress upon the white minority government the need to dismantle apartheid, a reordering of the present dysfunctional international trade and monetary system, a serious commitment to economic development in the Third World (especially Africa and the Caribbean), fashioning a sensible and fair refugee/immigration policy for Caribbean and African peoples, and negotiation as the preferred means of conflict resolution. The idea for a black foreign policy lobby germinated in the Black Leadership Conference on Africa, convened by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on September 25, 1976. A task force was charged with proposing an organizational design and means of funding. In July of 1977, TransAfrica was incorporated; it opened offices a year later after a period of fundraising. TransAfrica has helped maintain sanctions against Rhodesia until the birth of an independent Zimbabwe and has lobbied to retain the Clark Amendment which bans CIA activity in Angola. To achieve its goals, TransAfrica communicates policy views of its constituency to Congress, the media, and the administration, and maintains an Action Alert system to help pressure the administration and Congress to be more responsive to African/Caribbean concerns. TransAfrica Forum provides independent analyses of foreign policy topics in monthly Issue Briefs and the quarterly TransAfrica Forum Journal. The brochure lists Members of the Board of TransAfrica and TransAfrica Forum.
