Black History Month - Mandela's jail release announced

FEBRUARY 2
Fire can soften iron. (Zaire)

1990 - The 30-year ban on leading anti-apartheid group, the African National Congress (ANC) was lifted. Jailed ANC leader Nelson Mandela’s release was announced.

The ANC was founded in 1912. For many years, it worked within the law, using strikes and boycotts to end racial oppression in South Africa. However, the Sharpeville Massacre ended peaceful protest. Pass laws had restricted the movement of Black people in South Africa, and in 1960 the AND declared a campaign against pass laws. A large crowd gathered outside a police station offering themselves for arrest since they were not carrying passes. Apparently the crowd was orderly and even festive, but the police fired on the people. Most of the killed and wounded were shot in the back.

The massacre of these 69 unarmed persons marked the change for the ANC from non-violent resistance to armed resistance. The ANC was banned, but the organization continued to function underground and in exile.

The South African people, supported by the international community including Jamaica, , continued to demand political power. By 1976, the apartheid government introduced reforms for the first time, and these attempts at reform led to greater resistance.

In 1994, the then South African government removed the ban on the ANC, and ANC leaders entered negotiations that resulted in the 1994 democratic elections in South Africa. Today, the ANC is the dominant political party in South Africa.


Also on this day in:

1897 – Alfred Cralle, inventor and businessman, patented the ice cream scoop

1948 - Musician Al McKay (Earth, Wind, and Fire) was born.