Monthly Archives: February 2012

Drifting like balloons

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Gavin Brown

One of the unexpected joys of working on a project like this is when a theme you’ve been mulling over starts coming at you from multiple directions.  About a year ago, just after I’d heard that the Leverhulme Trust had awarded … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival research | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The day being ‘Non-Stop’ stopped

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Gavin Brown

After 1408 days and nights, the City of London Anti-Apartheid Group ended its Non-Stop Picket of the South African Embassy on Saturday 24 February 1990.  When the Picket started, with a march from Kings Cross to Trafalgar Square, on 19 … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival research, Interview material, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Share your photos of the Non-Stop Picket

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Gavin Brown

I spent an enjoyable afternoon last week with the photographer, Paul Mattsson, looking through negatives and contact sheets of photos he took of the Non-Stop Picket in the 1980s.  Paul got involved in the City of London Anti-Apartheid Group very … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival research | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Networks of activists: the lost art of mobilizing

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Gavin Brown

I’ve been reading two things this week that have inspired this post.  The first is Paul Mason’s latest book, Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere, about the worldwide anti-austerity protests of the last few years and the events of the Arab Spring.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival research | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Celebrating Mandela’s Release: Trafalgar Square, 11 February 1990

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Gavin Brown

On the day of Nelson Mandela’s release from jail thousands of people converged on the South African Embassy in London’s Trafalgar Square to celebrate the occasion.  For the previous 46 months, the City of London Anti-Apartheid Group had maintained their … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival research, Interview material | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Preparing for Mandela’s Release

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Gavin Brown

On 2 February 1990, at the opening of the new (whites-only) Parliament in South Africa, President FW De Klerk announced the unbanning of the African National Congress, the Pan-Africanist Congress and the South African Communist Party.  He also announced that … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival research | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Doing time: two picketers jailed

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Gavin Brown

I’ve written over the last couple of weeks about two events from January 1989 that impacted on the network of activists around the Non-Stop Picket of the South African Embassy.  Quite soon after the deportation of Viraj Mendis and the death of … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival research | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments