Remembering Alan Brooks

Alan Brooks being greeted by his children Jenni (left) and Lucy (right) at the end of the Nelson Mandela Freedom March from Glasgow to London, 1988. Photo courtesy Jenni Brooks

An Anti-Apartheid Movement report showing the 1988 Freedom March. Image courtesy of Glasgow Caledonian University Archives

Alan Brooks in 2004. Photo courtesy Jenni Brooks

 

June 12, 2008 –In June 1988, Nelson Mandela had been in prison for 25 years, and his 70th birthday was approaching. Under the leadership of Alan Brooks, anti-apartheid organisations in the United Kingdom organised a Freedom March to call for his release.

Twenty-five marchers (one for every year that Mr Mandela had been in prison up to that point) walked from Glasgow to London, covering a distance of 600 miles, or 966km. The march was seen off from Glasgow on June 12 by Oliver Tambo, Andimba Toivo ja Toivo, Allan Boesak and a crowd of about 40 000 people.

On its way, it was joined by many thousands of supporters. The march was met in London by Adelaide Tambo and her children on July 17, and the next day an estimated 250 000 people thronged the streets of London calling for Mr Mandela’s release.

Alan Brooks died on May 10, 2008. We mourn his loss and remember his contribution to the liberation struggles in Southern Africa.

Brooks was imprisoned in South Africa in 1964 for anti-apartheid activities. On his release in 1966 he was forced into exile. In the United Kingdom he worked as the organising secretary of the Anti-Apartheid Movement.

When Mozambique gained its independence, he went to that country to contribute to the building of a new nation. On returning to London, he took up a post at the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa (IDAF), and from there he went on to become director of the Mozambique Information Office.

Finally, he returned to work at the Anti-Apartheid Movement as deputy executive secretary, a post he remained in until the movement closed in 1994.