Collective learning in social movements: The South African anti-apartheid movement in Canada

What are the educative practices that sustain a social movement?

In 1987, Dr. Suzanne Smythe was a political studies student at McGill University. She and her friend Gwen Schulman, a history student, were both part of the growing South African anti-apartheid student movement in Canada. This was the height of the apartheid regime’s violence and oppression. Under the ‘separate development’ legislative framework Black South Africans were required to carry a passbook to enter White minority cities. They could not compete with White people for jobs, and they did not have the right to vote in national elections. Schools, healthcare, and economic institutions were racially segregated. Nelson Mandela was still imprisoned, and the South African government was doing everything in its power to spread disinformation and imprison those who resisted.

The disinformation was also spreading in Canada, aimed at confusing Canadians and dissuading the Canadian Government from imposing economic sanctions on South Africa.  Gwen and Suzanne decided to create a radio show at the still fabulous station CKUT on the McGill campus to educate themselves and local communities about the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and around the world, from the perspective of those who were living it.

Neither had any experience in public radio, and the first show of Amandla! (‘Power to the People!’) was a disaster. They repeatedly lost themselves in their handwritten scripts and broke into fits of laughter. Miraculously, they were invited back the following week. Amandla! would live on at CKUT for another 35 years, sustained by Gwen, her colleague Doug Miller, and countless other contributors, journalists, activists, and listeners who shared in Amandla!’s commitment to “busting racist stereotypes of Africa with coverage that brings African voices, struggles and visions to the fore, and roots stories in historical context” (CKUT, 2026).

The Amandla! Radio Collective’s last show was in 2023. The five-part audio documentary Small Little Foot Soldiers: A People’s History of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in Canada is a parting gift to its listeners and contributors, and to the South African anti-apartheid movement. For audiences in the education community, these stories weave educative practices that emerged within the movement and that helped sustain it across time and place, through political differences, devasting losses, mistakes, and victories.  These practices orient us to the power of collective learning that was not always efficient, convenient or predictable. It often felt unproductive and deeply frustrating. Yet these practices might still teach us something about persistence and how we engage in the struggles of the present moment.

Small Little Foot Soldiers launches in Montreal on November 9 and Episode 1 will be available on CKUT or your chosen podcast platform on November 11, 2026.