600 March in L.A. to Decry S. Africa Apartheid

Chants of “free the people, free the land” sparked enthusiasm among the more than 600 people marching in Los Angeles Saturday afternoon as they denounced apartheid and called for the release of imprisoned South African leader Nelson Mandela.

The march, along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and a following rally in Leimert Park, on Crenshaw Boulevard at 43rd Place, were sponsored by the Los Angeles Free South Africa movement, and held in conjunction with the United Nations’ international anti-apartheid protest day Friday.

Traffic was halted for a time for several blocks as drivers gawked at the marchers. Many people along the mile-long route left their homes, businesses and restaurants to join the march, prompting organizers to estimate that more than 1,000 people attended the rally.

“I feel jubilant to know we’re united for the African people,” Audrey Quarles, a Black Women’s Forum member, said as she marched. “It makes me feel like we’re getting to the root of the thing.”

Waters Leads March

“Just one year ago, few people were involved in the apartheid issue, but now I’m delighted to see so many grandmothers, kids and different people here . . . speaking out against racism,” Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) said as she led the marchers to the park.

Although Waters’ bill asking for divestment of state monies in South Africa was vetoed by Gov. George Deukmejian on Oct. 2, she said the issue of apartheid will not go away. “We will continue to fight here until black South Africans have been granted the basic human rights of life, liberty and self-determination.”

Joining Waters at the head of the march were former football star Jim Brown, Bubba Knight of Gladys Knight and the Pips, and members of the NAACP and Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Besides the demands to free Mandela, the leader of the African National Congress who has been imprisoned for more than 23 years, the rally organizers called for the release of all political prisoners in South Africa and the end of U.S. support of the South African government.