Road to Resistance

Part of the Series: Have You Heard From Johannesburg Series

Have You Heard From Johannesburg is seven documentary stories chronicling the history of the global anti-apartheid movement that took on South Africa's entrenched apartheid regime and its international supporters who considered South Africa an ally in the Cold War.

As the United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, South Africa heads in the opposite direction, implementing a system of laws called apartheid to racially segregate its people in every aspect of life. The black majority in South Africa, led by the African National Congress (ANC), mounts a non-violent campaign of defiance, attracting the attention of activists in Britain, Sweden, and the United States - and sowing the seeds of an international movement. The world reacts with horror when protesters are gunned down in the town of Sharpeville and the entire ANC leadership is forced underground or imprisoned. Nelson Mandela is jailed for life and the movement in South Africa is effectively shut down as hundreds escape into exile.