William Minter

William Minter

"The AfricaFocus website and AfricaFocus Bulletin are edited and produced by 'William Minter. Minter has been a writer, researcher, and activist since the mid-1960s, focusing particularly on southern Africa and international issues. He studied at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria in 1961-62 and taught in Tanzania and Mozambique at the secondary school of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) in 1966-68 and 1974-76. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology and a certificate in African studies from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

"Minter worked as a writer, editor, and researcher at Africa News Service (now allafrica.com) in Durham, N.C. in 1973 and 1976-82. Based in Washington since 1982, he has combined personal research and writing with contract work for a number of organizations, including policy analysis, writing, and development of computer-mediated communication tools. This has included work for Africa Action and its predecessor organization, the Africa Policy Information Center (APIC), from 1992 through fall 2003, and for the affiliated Washington Office on Africa (WOA), from 1992 to 1997.

"Minter's most recent book is No Easy Victories: African Liberation and American Activists over a Half Century, 1950-2000, co-edited by Gail Hovey and Charles Cobb, Jr. For more information and to order the book at a discount, visit http://www.noeasyvictories.org. Review

"Minter's other works include five books:


 * Portuguese Africa and the West, Penguin Books, Monthly Review Press, 1972. Scribd electronic edition now available ($3.99)
 * Imperial Brain Trust (Monthly Review Press, 1977, with Laurence Shoup)
 * King Solomon's Mines Revisited: Western Interests and the Burdened History of Southern Africa (Basic Books, 1986) Kindle edition now available ($5).
 * Operation Timber : Pages from the Savimbi Dossier (Africa World Press, 1988)
 * Apartheid's Contras: An Inquiry into the Roots of War in Angola and Mozambique (Zed Books, 1994). Scribd electronic edition now available ($5.99)

"King Solomon's Mines Revisited was a runner-up for the Herskovits prize awarded by the African Studies Association. Minter has also written numerous articles and research reports on Africa for a wide variety of U.S. and international publications."


 * Director, Concerned Africa Scholars

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