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Blueprint For Changing The World: 5 Black Mastermind Groups That Did it

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2. ANC – African National Congress (South Africa)

When: 1912 to Present

Who: Founders, John Dube, Pixley ka Isaka Seme and Sol Plaatje

Why: To unite the African people and spearhead the struggle for fundamental political, social and economic change in South Africa.

Accomplishments:
*Fought against Land Act and other laws and taxes that forced Black South Africans to seek work in the mines and on white-controlled farms. The laws also stopped Black people from leaving their jobs or striking. In 1919, the ANC in Transvaal led a campaign against those laws. The ANC also supported the militant strike by African mineworkers in 1920.

*Formed the ANC Youth League that included young Nelson Mandela. The young leaders of the Youth League based their ideas on African nationalism. They believed Africans would be freed only by their own efforts. The Youth League aimed to involve the masses of people in militant struggles.

* Presented the Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in December 1951. The campaign was the beginning of a mass movement of resistance against apartheid. The ANC’s greatest accomplishment to date is gaining political power for Africans in South Africa.

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