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HomeEventsFrom Our Corner of the World: Seattle’s Solidarity Against South African Apartheid

From Our Corner of the World: Seattle’s Solidarity Against South African Apartheid

Tuesday June 10, 2025 @ 7:00 pm
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Throughout much of the 1980s, activists forming the Seattle Coalition Against Apartheid (SCAA) remained some of the most active and diligent within the United States when calling for action against the oppressive apartheid government of South Africa. Come to MOHAI for a discussion featuring former affiliates of the SCAA, Maryamu Eltayeb-Givens and Eddie Rye Jr., and National Lawyer’s Guild member Lynne Wilson, to reflect on the value of international solidarity and the impact a local community can make on global issues of justice.

MOHAI will open at 6pm with Mandela: The Official Exhibition open for attendees until the panel begins at 7pm.

This program is produced in partnership with the Black Heritage Society of Washington State.

ASL Interpretation and CART captioning are available during the program. In addition, a limited number of Assistive Listening Devices are available upon request. For more accessibility support, email programs@mohai.org two weeks before the program.

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Details

  • Date: Tuesday June 10, 2025
  • Time:
    7:00 pm
  • Event Category:

Venue

Other

Event Accessibility:
ASL Interpretation, CART Captioning, Assistive Listening Device
Cost:
Sliding Scale: Free-$50
Audiences:
Adults

Speaker Bio

Vivian Phillips

Vivian Phillips

Vivian Phillips is a communications professional and arts leader. She founded and launched ARTE NOIR online in May 2021 and in September 2022, opened as a physical space the historic Central District, showcasing Black art and retail products. Vivian led the art plan development and a community-based artist selection panel for Midtown Square. She is also co-host of the arts-centered podcast DoubleXposure.

Speaker Bio

Lynne Wilson

Lynne Wilson

Lynne Wilson is a civil rights attorney who has used her legal skills to support many grassroots movements in Seattle. She worked with the Seattle Anti-Apartheid Coalition in the late 1980s and early 1990s in its successful effort to divest the Seattle Employees Pension Fund from companies doing business in South Africa. In 1996 she attended South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings as a legal observer for the International Association of Democratic Lawyers.

Speaker Bio

Maryamu Eltayeb-Givens

Maryamu Eltayeb-Givens

Maryamu Eltayeb-Givens is a retired teacher who taught in Moses Lake and the First Place School in Seattle. She was co-chair of the Seattle Coalition Against Apartheid, representing Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. From working with the American Friends Committee, to the Greater Church Council of Greater Seattle, to political work in Olympia, Maryamu’s decades of organizing was fundamental to Seattle’s anti-apartheid efforts.

Speaker Bio

Eddie Rye Jr.

Eddie Rye Jr.

Eddie Rye Jr. has been involved in the struggle for racial economic and social justice for the last 50 years. He is the current host of Urban Forum Northwest Radio, 1150 AM KKNW. Eddie’s activism includes the historic effort to rename Empire Way to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and being a whistleblower on the purchase of illegal South African stone by King County Metro.