1980s

Hammersmith and Fulham AA Group members held a year-long weekly picket of this Shell garage on Fulham Road in west London. The photograph shows health workers from Charing Cross Hospital at the protest. On 1 March 1987 the AAM launched a boycott of Shell as part of an international campaign organised jointly with groups in the USA and the Netherlands. Shell was joint owner of one of South Africa’s biggest oil refineries and a lead company in its coalmining and petrochemicals industries.

Women from the ANC Women’s Section and AAM Women’s Committee demonstrated in support of Theresa Ramashamola to mark 8 March, International Women’s Day. Theresa was one of the Sharpeville Six, who were sentenced to death in December 1985 because they were present at a protest where black collaborators were killed. In December 1987 the South African Appeal Court rejected their appeal for clemency. Southern Africa the Imprisoned Society (SATIS) responded with a campaign of letters and postcards asking the British government to intervene. After huge international protests the death sentence was commuted in July 1988.

Artists Against Apartheid called for the release of the Sharpeville Six, 16 March 1988. In the photograph with Trevor Huddleston are (left to right) Jerry Dammers, Pat and Greg Kane from the pop duo Hue and Cry, and Suggs from the ska band Madness. The Sharpeville Six were sentenced to death in December 1985 because they were present at a protest where black collaborators were killed. In December 1987 the South African Appeal Court rejected their appeal for clemency. After a big international campaign their sentence was commuted in July 1988.

The Sharpeville Six were sentenced to death in December 1985 because they were present at a protest where black collaborators were killed. In December 1987 the South African Appeal Court rejected their appeal for clemency. Southern Africa the Imprisoned Society (SATIS) responded with a big campaign of letters and postcards asking the British government to intervene. It held weekly demonstrations outside the South African Embassy. In the photograph are leading British trade unionists at the entrance to 10 Downing Street. After a huge international campaign the death sentence was commuted in July 1988.

The AAM mobilised widespread public protests in Britain in response to the banning of the UDF and 16 other anti-apartheid organisations in 1988. It called a press conference in London, addressed by Thabo Mbeki. The AAM’s President Trevor Huddleston and the General Secretary of the TUC, Norman Willis, met the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe. This poster advertised a day of protest on 21 March, when the AAM distributed half a million stickers with the slogan ‘Ban Apartheid: Sanctions Now!’.

Eighteen people prominent in British public life staged a symbolic protest against the banning of the UDF and 16 other anti-apartheid organisations in February 1988. AAM President Trevor Huddleston and TUC General Secretary Norman Willis met British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe to ask him to protest to the South African government. The bannings effectively outlawed all non-violent opposition to apartheid within South Africa.

AAM protestors led by Archbishop Trevor Huddleston and Labour MPs Joan Lestor and Bob Hughes protested against the banning of the UDF and 16 other anti-apartheid organisations at the entrance to Downing Street on 21 March 1988. The AAM asked supporters to mark the day by wearing ‘Ban Apartheid Sanctions Now’ stickers.

The AAM mobilised public opinion in Britain against the banning of the UDF and 16 other anti-apartheid organisations in South Africa on 24 February 1988. In the photograph Thabo Mbeki protests at a demonstration outside the South African Embassy. Immediately after the bannings AAM President Trevor Huddleston and TUC General Secretary Norman Willis met British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe to ask him to make representations to the South African government. The bannings effectively outlawed all non-violent opposition to apartheid within South Africa.