Inspiration from S. Africa

In the 1950s South Africa, the apartheid government had just risen to power, taking racial oppression to a whole new level.

The party of Nelson Mandela, the African National Congress, faced enormous internal challenges. ANC leaders realized that they were stuck in reaction: they knew they were against apartheid, but not what they were for. Second, black Africans, Indians, people of mixed race, and anti-apartheid whites were all working in separate organizations on separate issues. Non-profits were also working on agendas of their own. Finally, there was no mass liberation movement. Organizations were preaching to their own choirs, and were not reaching out to the masses and finding out what people wanted.

The ANC responded to these challenges with a bold new idea. They invited members from civil society organizations, including organizations representing all the racial groups, to launch a massive, collective visioning campaign around the country, the Freedom Charter campaign. Leaflets were sent everywhere:

"We call the people of South Africa, black and white, let us speak together of freedom!... Let the voices of all the people be heard. And let the demands of all the people for the things that will make us free be recorded. Let the demands be gathered together in a great charter of freedom."

The campaign caught the imagination of the people. Individuals sent in suggestions written on napkins, on the backs of flyers, on paper torn from books. Cultural clubs, church groups, women's groups, schools, trade unions, and non-profit organizations convened their members to answer the question, and sent in their suggestions. The ANC and its partners held a culminating Congress of the People, where the Freedom Charter was adopted. The campaign succeeded in knitting together these groups around a positive, proactive vision, and this vision served as the guiding light of the liberation struggle for the next forty years. When Constitutional negotiations finally arrived, the leaders used the Charter as a foundation.

¹ Many people who have heard this story have asked for further resources on the Freedom Charter campaign. The actual document is truly beautiful. You may read it here: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/charter.html. Links to ANC articles about the campaign may be found here: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/campaigns/cop/index.html. And an online book about the campaign can be found here: http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/library-resources/online%20books/vadi-....