10 O'Clock News | [Apartheid protesters outside of the Deak Perera offices]

Apartheid protesters outside of Deak Perera

[Apartheid protesters outside of the Deak Perera offices]
Original Airdate: 3/7/1985

Length: 00:07:19
Item Type: newstape - original footage

Go back to main record.

Full Description

1:00:11
Visual: A diverse group of apartheid protesters picket the offices of Deak Perera (financial institution) on Franklin Street in Boston. There are approximately 50 protestors. Members of the crowd carry protest signs and walk slowly in front of the offices. The crowd chants, "1, 2, 3, 4, don't buy krugerrands any more." One of the protestors wears a skeletal mask.
Graylan Ellis-Hagler (Church of the United Community) stands at the entrance of the building.
Shot of a female protestor standing at the entrance to the building. She carries a sign reading, "Stop apartheid now."
A few protestors carry poles attached to large brown masks. The masks represent hands covering a face. A protestor enters the revolving doors of the building with his sign. The protestors continue to march. The protestors chant, "The people united will never be defeated." One of the protestors wears a mask representing a grotesque man with a moustache. One of the protestors yells out, "Deak Perera, you can't hide. We know your on apartheid's side." The protestors begin to chant with the man. The protestors play moroccas and tambourines while they chant.
Shot of the sign for Deak Perera above the entrance to the building. Shots of the feet of the marching protestors. Shot of a protest sign reading, "People with principles have no business in South Africa."

1:03:34
V: Ellis-Hagler is in the bank, speaking to a security guard about apartheid. A small group of protestors confronts a white woman who has purchased South African currency. The woman cuts the protestors off, saying that the money is for her ailing mother. She thanks them and walks away. A white customer asks one of the protestors if they need to be inside the building as well as outside. The customer turns away and conducts his business at the teller's window. Ellis-Hagler continues to speak to the security guard. Another security guard and a member of the media stand by. Two customers conduct business at a teller's window. The chants of the protestors outside is audible. The protestors chant, "Freedom, yes. Apartheid, no. The sale of krugerrands has got to go." A small group of protestors confer in front of a teller's window.

1:04:50
V: One of the protestors stands at the entrance to the building. He addresses the other protestors through a bullhorn. The man says that the demonstration will come to an end; that they succeeded in shutting down Deak Perera for one and one half hours. The protestors cheer. The man notes that they have turned away more than six customers in the past half hour. The man says that the protestors are here to show Deak Perera that the community will not tolerate the sale of krugerrands. The crowd cheers.
Shots of members of the crowd of protestors.
The man says that this protest is part of the on-going protest organized by the TransAfrica movement; that there is legislation has been introduced in Congress to make krugerrands illegal in the US. Two men exit the Deak Perera and move through the crowd of protestors. A few protestors call the men "racists" and "nazis." The leader with the bullhorn reminds the protestors about the next day's demonstration at Deak Perera. The leader leads the protestors in a chant, "If they don't come around, shut them down." The crowd cheers.
Shots of individual protestors applauding.
The protestors chant, "The people united will never be defeated."
Shots of members of the crowd. Shot from across the street, of the crowd of protestors gathered in front of the building.

The Ten O'Clock News Home | WGBH

The Ten O'Clock News Project is a production of the WGBH Archives.
©2003 WGBH Educational Foundation.