The following are speeches delivered by people of African ancestry around the world which have contributed to the shaping of Global African history. These speeches serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited at the end of the speeches.
On August 18, 1973, Hudson William Edison Ntsanwisi, then Chief Minister of the “independent homeland” of Gazankulu in South Africa, was scheduled to present an address titled “Petty Apartheid” before the Sociological Symposium at the University of Pretoria. Although the presentation was not made, his … Read More(1973) H.W. E. Ntsanwisi, “Petty Apartheid”
In 1973 attorney K.M.N. Guzana was leader of the opposition Democratic Party in the national legislature of the theoretically independent nation of Transkei, one of the former homelands created by South Africa to contain the black population and thus reduce their “majority” status in the … Read More(1973) K.M.N. Guzana, “On Being a South African”
By the 1970s Lucy Mvubelo had become a powerful force in the black South African Labor Union Movement. Born in Johannesburg in 1920 she first joined the Garment Workers Union in 1946 and eventually became the first black woman on the National Executive Council of … Read More(1973) Lucy Mvubelo, “My Plea to the International Labor Organization”
Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi emerged in the 1970s as one of the moderate black leaders in South Africa’s anti-apartheid campaign. In 1970 he was appointed leader of the KwaZulu Territorial Authority and in 1975 he created the Inkatha Freedom Party which drew its support primarily from … Read More(1974) M. Gatsha Buthelezi, “Towards Black Fulfillment”
Samora Machel, the leader of the Mozambique Liberation Front and first president of independent Mozambique (1975-1986), was a Marxist-Leninist. In the speech below, given in Maputo, the capital, on February 7, 1980, he describes the use of the state bureaucracy in fashioning his version of … Read More(1980) Samora Machel, “Transform the State Apparatus into an Instrument of Victory”
In the following address given in Berlin, East Germany on April 11, 1983 at celebrations marking the centennial of the death of Karl Marx, Samora Machel, discusses the relevance of Marxist struggle to the Third World and especially to his nation, Mozambique. Dear comrades, with … Read More(1983) Samora Machel “Every Revolution is a Contribution to Marxism”
In 1990 the South African government released Nelson Mandela from Victor Verster Prison in Paarl, South Africa after more than 28 years of incarceration including more than 20 years in South Africa’s most notorious prison, Robben Island. Here is the speech he gave in Cape … Read More(1990) Nelson Mandela, “We Have Waited Too Long For Our Freedom”
After Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, he and representatives of the African National Congress (ANC) began a public period of negotiations in preparation for majority rule in that nation. The negotiations were set back however when ANC leader Chris Hani was assassinated. … Read More(1993) Nelson Mandela, “Address to the Nation”
In 1993 South African political activist Nelson Mandela shared the annual Nobel Peace Prize with South African President F.W. de Klerk. Mandela’s Nobel Peace Prize address on December 10, 1993 in Oslo, Norway appears below. Your Majesty the King, Your Royal Highness, Honourable Prime Minister, … Read More(1993) Nelson Mandela, “Nobel Peace Prize Address”
On May 9, 1994, Nelson Mandela was officially inaugurated as the first democratically elected President of South Africa chosen by the majority of the nation’s citizens. His inauguration address given at Cape Town, South Africa, appears below. Mr. Master of Ceremonies, Your Excellencies, Members of … Read More(1994) Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural Address as President of South Africa
