Posters

Poster publicising an AAM march and rally on 23 June 1968. In 1967 and 1968 guerrilla units from the African National Congress (ANC) and Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) joined forces to try and fight their way through Zimbabwe to South Africa. The AAM hailed the armed incursions into Zimbabwe as a new stage in the liberation struggle. This demonstration was part of its campaign to mobilise support for the guerrilla fighters in Britain.

Poster publicising a march past the headquarters of companies involved in Southern Africa – Unilever, Anglo American, the Daily Telegraph, Shell, Plessey and Barclays Bank – on 28 June 1969. The march was organised by the Southern Africa Solidarity Committee, a coalition of militant youth and student groups set up in 1969 in the wake of the 1968 student demonstrations in France and other European countries. 

More than 7,000 people took part in a march to protest against the South African rugby Springboks game against North West Counties on 26 November 1969. Many of the marchers were students from Manchester and Liverpool Universities. This poster was produced by Manchester students. Around 2,000 police were deployed to stop protesters running onto the pitch. There were anti-apartheid protests at all 24 games in the Springboks 1969/70 tour of Britain and Ireland.

Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) organised direct action against the 1969–70 Springbok rugby tour of Britain. Protesters ran onto the pitch and held up play, and harassed the South African team on their arrival at Heathrow Airport and in their London hotel. Although the tour went ahead, the protests helped secure the cancellation of the Springbok cricket tour planned for 1970.

Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) planned direct action to stop the Springbok cricket tour scheduled for the summer of 1970. The threat of disruption, together with mass demonstrations planned by the AAM and opposition from churches, trade unions and race relations councils, forced the cancellation of the tour.

Poster advertising a march at Twickenham before the final match of the1969–70 Springbok rugby tour. Together with Stop the Seventy Tour (STST), the AAM organised protests at all the 24 games in the tour. The protests included mass marches and direct action. They involved a wide range of participants – students, trade unionists, ethnic minority organisations and political parties. Although the tour was completed, the demonstrations paved the way for the cancellation of the Springbok cricket tour in 1970.

With Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) and the Fair Cricket Campaign, the AAM won a big victory in 1970 by forcing the Cricket Council to cancel a planned all-white South African cricket tour. This poster helped mobilise opposition to the tour.

The huge Cabora Bassa dam project in Mozambique was a collaboration between South Africa, Rhodesia and Portugal. The project was intended to supply electricity to South Africa. This poster advertised a teach-in to mobilise opposition to investment by British companies in the dam. The campaign was organised by the Dambusters Mobilising Committee, a coalition of groups that included the AAM, Haslemere Group and Committee for Freedom in Mozambique, Angola and Guiné.