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David Blunkett was the Labour  MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough from 1987 to 2015. As Leader of Sheffield City Council in 1981 he launched a Declaration pledging that the Council would boycott South African goods, withhold use of sporting and recreational facilities from events involving South African participants and encourage positive teaching about Africa in Sheffield schools. In 1983 Sheffield Council hosted the inaugural meeting of Local Authority Action Against Apartheid.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of a project by students at Sheffield Hallam University in 2013.

David Blunkett was the Labour  MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough from 1987 to 2015. As Leader of Sheffield City Council in 1981 he launched a Declaration pledging that the Council would boycott South African goods, withhold use of sporting and recreational facilities from events involving South African participants and encourage positive teaching about Africa in Sheffield schools. In 1983 Sheffield Council hosted the inaugural meeting of Local Authority Action Against Apartheid.

In this clip David Blunkett describes the link between combating racism in Sheffield and opposing apartheid in South Africa. 

 

David Granville joined the Anti-Apartheid Movement in London in the early 1980s and later moved to Sheffield, where he was active in Sheffield AA Group. He was the Co-ordinator of Sheffield Southern Africa Resource Centre, set up in 1988 to provide educational resources on Southern Africa to schools and community organisations. 

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out by students at Sheffield Hallam University in 2013.

David Hillman became an Anti-Apartheid Movement activist in 1985, joining Hammersmith and Fulham AA Group.  He was a member of the London Anti-Apartheid Committee and the AAM Boycott Committee, where he led activities on the Boycott Shell campaign across London. After 1994, he served for over 10 years as a member of the National Executive Committee of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA).

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of the ‘Forward to Freedom’ AAM history project in 2013.

David Hillman became an Anti-Apartheid Movement activist in 1985, joining Hammersmith and Fulham AA Group. He was a member of the London Anti-Apartheid Committee and the AAM Boycott Committee, where he led activities on the Boycott Shell campaign across London. After 1994, he served for over 10 years as a member of the National Executive Committee of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA).

In this clip David Hillman describes how he pretended to be a journalist to infiltrate South Africa House during a tourist industry convention.

 

Gerard Omasta-Milsom joined the Anti-Apartheid Movement as a student at Bristol University, where he was an activist in Bristol University AA Group. In 1988 he joined the staff of the Anti-Apartheid Movement as Field Officer, responsible for coordinating the activities of local anti-apartheid groups. He became the AAM’s Campaigns Officer, remaining in post through the period when the AAM dissolved itself and set up a successor organisation, Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) in 1994–95.

In this clip Gerard describes the outreach work carried out in the 1980s and 90s with the AAM’s 1989 Boycott Bandwagon, converted the following year into the Freedom Bus.

 

 

Gerard Omasta-Milsom joined the Anti-Apartheid Movement as a student at Bristol University, where he was an activist in Bristol University AA Group. In 1988 he joined the staff of the Anti-Apartheid Movement as Field Officer, responsible for coordinating the activities of local anti-apartheid groups. He became the AAM’s Campaigns Officer, remaining in post through the period when the AAM dissolved itself and set up a successor organisation, Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) in 1994–95.

 

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of the Forward to Freedom AAM history project in 2013.

 

 

Jerry Dammers formed the Specials in Coventry in 1977. He was an anti-apartheid activist from his school days, and in 1986 founded Artists Against Apartheid to involve musicians in anti-apartheid campaigns and promote the cultural boycott of South Africa. He wrote the song ‘Free Nelson Mandela’, which became an international hit and helped raise awareness of the situation of Nelson Mandela and political prisoners in South Africa.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of the Forward to Freedom AAM history project in 2013.