1970s

This petition calling for no independence for Rhodesia before majority rule was launched at an AAM meeting addressed by Judy Todd at the Labour Party conference in October 1971. It was part of the AAM’s campaign for the rejection of the Conservative government’s 1971 proposals for a settlement with the illegal Smith regime. The petition was widely circulated and reprinted in the Guardian newspaper. It was signed by 80,000 people and presented to the British Prime Minister on 21 March.

In November 1971 Conservative Foreign Secretary Lord Home published proposals for a settlement agreed with Ian Smith. The proposals fell far short of majority rule, but included a provision that they must be acceptable to the African majority. The British government sent a commission headed by Lord Pearce to test African opinion, which overwhelmingly rejected the settlement. This poster was produced for the AAM’s campaign against the sell-out.

Leaflet produced by the Rhodesia Emergency Campaign Committee (RECC) analysing the settlement proposals agreed by Conservative Foreign Secretary Alec Douglas-Home and Ian Smith and published as a White Paper on 25 November 1971. RECC was a broad coalition of 45 organisations, set up at a meeting convened by the AAM in December 1971 and chaired by Methodist minister Colin Morris and New Left academic Stuart Hall. The AAM estimated that over half a million campaign leaflets, stickers, posters and badges were distributed over the next few months. 

In November 1971 Conservative Foreign Secretary Alec Douglas-Home agreed proposals for a settlement in Rhodesia with the Smith regime that fell far short of majority rule. This leaflet asked AAM supporters to write to him telling him there was no basis for an agreement and that sanctions against the illegal Rhodesian regime should be tightened.

Poster publicising an AAM demonstration on 13 February 1972 against the Conservative government’s proposals for a settlement on Rhodesia. The proposals fell far short of majority rule, but included a provision that they must be acceptable to the African majority. The British government sent a commission to test African opinion, which overwhelmingly rejected the settlement. The main speaker at the demonstration was Bishop Abel Muzorewa, President of the African National Council, which led the opposition to the proposals inside Zimbabwe. The Rhodesia Emergency Campaign Committee was a coalition of groups, set up by the AAM.

Leaflet publicising a demonstration on 13 February 1972 against the Conservative government’s proposals for a settlement with Ian Smith. The demonstration was organised by the Rhodesia Emergency Campaign Committee (RECC), an umbrella group set up to mobilise opposition to the proposals in Britain. The AAM estimated that over half a million campaign leaflets, stickers, posters and badges were distributed over the next few months.

Rally in Trafalgar Square calling for No Independence Before Majority Rule (NIBMAR) in Zimbabwe on 13 February 1972. Around 15,000 people marched from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square to protest against the British government’s agreement with the Smith regime. Bishop Abel Muzorewa said the settlement was not acceptable to the majority in Rhodesia. Other speakers at the rally were the leader of the Clyde shipbuilders work-in Jimmy Reid, black activist Althea Jones and Labour MP Michael Foot.

Rally in Trafalgar Square calling for No Independence Before Majority Rule (NIBMAR) in Zimbabwe on 13 February 1972. Around 15,000 people marched from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square to protest against the British government’s agreement with the Smith regime. Bishop Abel Muzorewa said the settlement was not acceptable to the majority in Rhodesia. Other speakers at the rally were the leader of the Clyde shipbuilders work-in Jimmy Reid, black activist Althea Jones and Labour MP Michael Foot.