Chapter 6 - Supportive Projects: Black Women Against Apartheid

Summary

“The inquest of Steve Biko was not simply an exceptional event; it was, in a sense, the revelation of racism, of the way it has distorted ordinary people, and the way it has destroyed all morality and decency in a rich and beautiful country.”

—Hilda Bernstein

Introduction

The rise and persecution of Black Consciousness resonated internationally. By the time Arnold left the Project in 1979, events in Soweto and beyond held the attention of a new generation of activists. In the United States, the Southern Africa Support Project formed, using Howard University's Department of African Studies as its home base. Group members’ interest in activism around African affairs had piqued during a 1976 conference on Pan Africanism held in Cuba. As the event unfolded, images of Pieterson's limp body being carried through the streets of Soweto filled hotel television screens. The regime's massive round up of Black Consciousness leaders on charges of incitement provided a rallying point.

Forming support

Sylvia Hill and colleagues moved from their midwestern and southern homes to Washington, DC, founded the Southern Africa Support Project, and in the ensuing years held radiothons, public forums, gospel concerts and other events to educate the local public and raise funds for the region. The women aimed to organize local constituents at a grassroots level. The organization's archives hint at its resonance within the communities it served. In one poignant letter a writer asked that the women:

Please forward to me any literature concerning the struggles of our people, as it would help me to remain further aware of our plight on an up to date basis. Since I’m presently incarcerated, I’m totally without finance to pay for the materials, but appreciate any food for thought you send me.

While many of the Southern Africa Support Project's workers hailed from the US Midwest or South, the nation's capital unsurprisingly became their meeting point. “We felt that we needed to organize within the belly of the beast to influence US foreign policy”, Hill explained. “We wanted to build a national organization … While we [McDougall and Hill] didn't work on any particular project together, we viewed our work as part of a larger collective of organizers who focused on different aspects of the problem.”