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Author Archives: Gavin Brown
“Fair Exchange”: the Non-Stop Picket in fiction
Earlier this week I received a copy of Fair Exchange, a novel from 1998 by Lynne Reid Banks. Until recently, I was not aware of the novel, but I am glad it has been brought to my attention. Lynne Reid Banks … Continue reading
Who we have interviewed (so far)
Last week we passed a significant milestone on the Non-Stop Against Apartheid project – we ‘interviewed’ the 40th former supporter of the Non-Stop Picket about their experiences of anti-apartheid protest in London in the 1980s. This means that, with about … Continue reading
‘Black Londoners’ celebrate two years of the Non-Stop Picket
The Non-Stop Picket of the South African Embassy (which began on 19 April 1986) celebrated its second anniversary on Saturday 16 April 1988 with a march from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square. We have recently (re)discovered a recording of a … Continue reading
Launching the Non-Stop Picket, 19 April 1986
The Non-Stop Picket of the South African Embassy started on 19 April 1986. The proposal for the Non-Stop Picket had been made at the City of London Anti-Apartheid Group’s Annual General Meeting in January of that year and plans for … Continue reading
Margaret Thatcher: friend of apartheid
‘Every day the blood of our children flows. While all this is happening, Reagan and Thatcher continue to call themselves friends of black people while in effect they are the friends of racists.’ (Winnie Mandela,6 April 1986) Helen Yaffe writes: Winnie … Continue reading
A tale of the homeless and ‘disarmingly cheery revolutionaries’
Last week I re-read an old magazine feature about the Non-Stop Picket. The article was originally published in the Mail on Sunday‘s You magazine in late 1988, just as the Picket was about to celebrate its 1000th day and night outside … Continue reading
The Poll Tax Riot and the burning of the South African Embassy II
Last year, I wrote about how the South African Embassy was attacked, with its windows smashed and a tourist display set ablaze, during the Poll Tax Riot in Trafalgar Square on 31 March 1990. Recently we have obtained new photos … Continue reading
Surveillance of anti-apartheid activists revealed
After the exposure of long-term police infiltration of environmental and anti-capitalist activist networks over the last couple of years, the idea that the British police monitored anti-apartheid activists in the 1980s is hardly a surprise. However, two publications from March … Continue reading
“Pik off Botha”: attempting to arrest the South African Foreign Minister
On the evening of Wednesday 15 March 1989, South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha visited the South African Embassy in London for ‘secret’ talks with his British counterpart, Geoffrey Howe. The City of London Anti-Apartheid Group (and the national Anti-Apartheid … Continue reading
Non-Stop Picket temporarily interrupted
Although the Metropolitan Police tried many tactics to curtail the Non-Stop Picket of the South African Embassy in the late 1980s, the Picket never had to endure the frequent eviction attempts that have characterised life at other long-term protest camps. … Continue reading
