Free Mandela

Leaflet advertising AAM T-shirts, posters and stickers with the slogan ‘Mandela Released! Free South Africa Now!’

Nelson Mandela’s release from prison on 11 February 1990 was celebrated by opponents of apartheid all over the world. But it was only a first step towards ending apartheid. This T-shirt was part of the attempt to ensure that anti-apartheid campaigners kept up their pressure on the South African government. The image of Mandela was an artist’s impression based on photographs taken before he was imprisoned in 1962. 

Nelson Mandela’s release from prison on 11 February 1990 was celebrated by opponents of apartheid all over the world. But it was only a first step towards ending apartheid. This T-shirt was part of the attempt to ensure that anti-apartheid campaigners kept up their pressure on the South African government. The image of Mandela was an artist’s impression based on photographs taken before he was imprisoned in 1962.

While it celebrated Mandela’s release, the AAM stressed that apartheid remained. It asked its supporters to campaign for the release of all political prisoners and to press the de Klerk government to take measures to end the killings in the townships.

A week of music and poetry in venues all over London led up to the second Mandela Wembley concert on 16 April 1990. 

T-shirt produced for the Wembley Stadium concert held on 16 April 1990 to celebrate the release of Nelson Mandela. Mandela thanked the people of Britain and the world for campaigning for his release. The back of the T-shirt lists the lead artists who performed at the concert.

Two months after his release, Nelson Mandela attended a second Wembley Stadium concert held on 16 April 1990. The concert was attended by a capacity audience of 76,000 people and broadcast around the world. Mandela thanked the hundreds of thousands of people who had campaigned for his freedom and called for the continued isolation of South Africa until it had been transformed into a non-racial democracy.

Poster celebrating Nelson Mandela’s release and calling for the release of all other South African political prisoners. Mandela visited Britain in April 1990 and spoke at a concert held in Wembley Stadium, London.