July 21, 2016
Dear Friends,
Prexy and the group have just spent two days in Maputo and are now back in Johannesburg for the next few days. They asked me to pass on their thank-you and a quick update to those of you who have helped make this trip possible through your contributions. (I, Bill Minter, am writing in my capacity as a volunteer helping Prexy with fundraising and communications coordination, working from my desk in DC).
The group traveled to Maputo by bus from Johannesburg on July 17 and returned on July 20. The time in Maputo was coordinated by Terezinha da Silva (in center in photo above), of Women and Law in Southern Africa - Mozambique, and included, among others, meetings with trade unionists, GLBT activist group Lambda, and liberation movement veterans. A highlight of the visit was the visit to the Matola Memorial Monument and Interpretative Centre, which honors the fallen heroes of the Matola raid in 1981 as well as paying homage to the sacrifices and contributions made by Mozambicans towards a free, non-racial and democratic South Africa.
Your gifts—and the prospect of additional fundraising from people like you—made it possible for Making the Road to include a significant number of activists who otherwise could not have afforded to go. The activists are still actively fundraising to help cover the costs, and will be communicating what they learn from the trip through social media as well as through writing and speaking once they return.
So we are asking you to share as you can with others you know who may be interested and willing to join you in keeping up on the trip or making contributions. Updates will be made most frequently by social media rather than on this email list.
If you are active on social media, you can follow the tour on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/USAFRICASOLIDARITIES/. If you are part of the social media networks of any of the participants, please also encourage contributions from your networks to the group's expenses through their own crowdsourcing fundraising site.
Tax-deductible contributions can also be made by going to https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/SouthAfricaDevelopmentFund, choosing "Making the Road" as the designation for your contribution, and paying by Paypal or credit card. You can also send a check designated for Making the Road and made out to South Africa Development Fund, 555 Amory Street, Boston, MA 02130.
A Luta Continua,
Bill Minter
Editor, AfricaFocus Bulletin
P.S. Please note. This address is used for updates related to the Making the Road trips. For personal messages to Prexy, please continue to use his personal email: rozell.makingtheroad1@gmail.com
2016 Unfinished Agendas Trip Participants
The activists participating in this trip include six from Chicago and four from other parts of the United States.
In Chicago, Emily Williams, who is assisting Prexy as deputy trip leader and facilitator, is the associate director of the Social Justice Initiative at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Andrea Meza and Lauren Campbell are two of Prexy's students at Columbia College,who are already integrating activism with their professional interests. Johnaé Strong is an experienced activist who works with Black Lives Matter and the Chicago Teachers Union. Husam Marajda, a computer-science major at DePaul University, is a Palestinian American activist who is also involved with Black Lives Matter. Gender justice activist Bri Pickens is a dancer and photographer who will begin graduate studies at Brown University in the fall.
Outside of Chicago, Dr. Rose Brewer of the University of Minnesota is a distinguished scholar (many of you may know her book The Color of Wealth) as well as an activist in Black Lives Matter. Nse Umoh Esema is a Nigerian American immigrant-rights activist and editor of the ColabRadio blog on urban affairs at MIT. Rani Allen is a Palestinian American student at Hunter College and a leader in Palestinian solidarity in New York City. Dr. Anita Plummer, an experienced Africa solidarity activist, teaches in the Howard University African Studies Program, which has a long tradition of integrating progressive activism and scholarship.
Prexy, Emily, and Anita are members of the coordinating committee of the US-Africa Network and have long-term commitments to building relationships and solidarity between U.S.-based and Africa-based activists.
