meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Witness History

When Nelson Mandela went to Detroit

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.41.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2020

⏱️ 9 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Just months after his release from prison in 1990 the South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela toured the USA. One of the eight cities he went to visit was Detroit. Benita Barden has been speaking to Reverend Wendell Anthony who was one of the people who welcomed him to the city.

Photo: Nelson Mandela and Rev Wendell Anthony in 1990. Courtesy of Rev Wendell Anthony.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Choosing what to watch night after night the flicking through the endless

0:06.8

searching is a nightmare we want to help you on our brand new podcast off the

0:11.8

telly we share what we've been watching

0:14.0

Cladie Aide.

0:16.0

Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming.

0:19.0

Lovely. Off the telly with me Joanna Paige.

0:21.0

And me, Natalie Cassidy, so your evenings can be a little less

0:24.9

searching and a lot more auction listen on BBC sounds

0:30.9

you're the You're listening to the BBC World Service. This is Witness History with Benita Barden.

0:40.0

In 1990, the South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela went on the 12-day tour of the USA,

0:47.2

just months after being released from 27 years in prison under South Africa's racist apartheid regime.

0:54.0

Ladies and gentlemen, Northman

0:57.0

Detroit was one of eight cities he visited.

1:01.0

I've been speaking to Reverend Wendell Anthony who was there.

1:05.2

We had a thousand member choir, thousand voices made up of people from all around the city and the region, black, white, young, old, and they sang the songs

1:19.6

before the program started.

1:22.0

We had drummers and dancers it was very celebratory.

1:25.6

The rally took place at Detroit's Tiger Stadium which was usually used for baseball games.

1:34.0

Around 50,000 people were in the crowd to see Nelson Mandela.

1:40.0

The stadium was packed.

1:42.0

That stadium had never in the history of Tiger Stadium had that many black people in it.

1:47.0

So it was overwhelmed, overcrowded with people both in the seats and in the stands and on the feet.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.