Ubuntu : George M. Houser and the Struggle for Peace and Freedom on Two Continents

George M. Houser (1916–2015) was one of the most important human rights
and peace activists of the twentieth century. As a radical pacifist he
was one of the first to refuse to register for the WW II draft, spending
almost a year in prison and helping to launch a movement to desegregate
the prisons. In 1942 he cofounded and led the Congress of Racial
Equality (CORE), whose embrace of nonviolent protest strategies and
tactics would characterize the modern American Civil Rights Movement. As
cofounder and executive director of the American Committee on Africa he
played a critical role in supporting pan-Africanist anticolonial
movements, helping to legitimate the leaders of these movements on the
world stage and preparing the ground for the toppling of the South
African apartheid state. His extensive travels in Africa during the Cold
War and beyond provide important insights into the anticolonial
struggle that help to shed light on Africa’s current trajectory. In
light of the corruption the U.S. and the world face today, Houser’s
story of faith and decisive action for human rights and social justice
is one for our time.