Some 90 workers and students came from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas to attend the event, sponsored by the Socialist Workers Party and the Young Socialists. They heard four members of a team that had taken part in the fair and staffed the Pathfinder Press table there.

Half a dozen Spelman students were in the audience. A group of students met with Waters at an informal reception before the program.

“The book fair presented us with an opportunity to learn more about the history of that part of Africa,” Arrin Hawkins told the audience. “The capital Malabo on the island of Bioko was used by the Portuguese, Dutch, British, and Spanish colonial powers, including as a staging ground for the transatlantic slave trade.

“Guineans explained to us that their history is not a remote past. That colonial heritage continues to shape the country through the ongoing imperialist oppression. We have to see history as part of the present.”

Martín Koppel noted the pride and confidence of the contingents of Guinean workers who marched in the October 12 Independence Day celebrations. “You could see the future that’s coming” with the birth of a working class in Equatorial Guinea, being brought into being through the development of the oil industry and associated infrastructure.

He described revolutionary Cuba’s role in providing doctors and other volunteers in Equatorial Guinea. “While the imperialist powers rob doctors from Africa, Cuba is helping Equatorial Guinea build up its own health services,” training Guinean youth as doctors, Koppel said.

Brian Taylor described how youth at the book fair sought out titles by Nelson Mandela. “We could see how the revolution in South Africa to overthrow apartheid is a source of inspiration for Equatorial Guineans,” he said. He added there was a similar response to speeches by Thomas Sankara, leader of the Burkina Faso revolution in the 1980s: “We couldn’t bring enough of these titles!” And fair organizers said they were pleasantly surprised by the thirst for books by Malcolm X.

“What we saw was not the image most of those who live in the imperialist countries have of Africa,” said Mary-Alice Waters, editor of New International magazine and the main speaker. “Instead, we saw the human beings—fighting, toiling humanity—working under difficult conditions, but those who are going to be making their own future.”

Waters noted that the Communist Manifesto “speaks to what we saw and experienced in Equatorial Guinea.” It explains that the “need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe.” Now, she said, Equatorial Guinea—one of the countries most underdeveloped by imperialism—has become the third-largest oil exporter in Africa, as U.S. companies tap the huge oil reserves in the Gulf of Guinea.

The developing class contradictions in Equatorial Guinea are so historically new, so close to the surface, that they are easier to see there than in many other places, Waters explained. That is also true of the historical trends strengthening the working class on an international scale—from the expansion and internationalization of the working class to the increased role of women, to the declining hold of religious beliefs.

“What about the role of the Spanish language in Equatorial Guinea?” asked one person in the audience during the question-and-answer period.

Equatorial Guinea was a colony of Spain until 1968. “The language of education in Equatorial Guinea remains Spanish,” Waters explained. “The indigenous languages, such as Fang and Bubi, are not written languages.” Thomas Sankara, she said, explained that in Burkina Faso in West Africa, while French was the language imposed by the former colonial power, it also served as a tool for the Burkinabé people to communicate with each other and with fighters against imperialism the world over.

Other questions and answers took up the role of African immigrants in the imperialist countries, the legacy of colonialist-fostered divisions within Equatorial Guinea, and the record of Cuban internationalist solidarity in the world, among other questions.

Audience members contributed $945 to help defray the travel and other costs of attending the book fair.

Many participants spoke about how much they appreciated what they had learned at the event. The meeting “helped open my eyes to a lot of things I’ve never thought much about before,” said Spelman senior Rheaclare Fraser, following the meeting.

Ben Downing, 22, who attends the University of Houston, said he was especially interested to learn about the role of Cuba in Africa.

“I thought the meeting was fantastic,” said Gladys Williams, 58. Active in the People’s Tribunal, a group in southern Georgia that has led fights against police brutality, Williams was happy to hear that Cuban leader Víctor Dreke was now Cuba’s ambassador to Equatorial Guinea and that he had spoken at the book fair. Three years ago Williams helped host a visit by Dreke to farm communities in her area as part of a speaking tour.

On Sunday morning, 50 people attended a brunch at the Javaology coffee shop, where discussion with the speakers from the night before continued for several hours. “I came to find out more about Africa and why they need these books!” said Katina McFadden, 29, an Atlanta meat packer, as she looked at the display of photos from the book fair. People also saw a short video about the visit to Equatorial Guinea.

Maurice Williams contributed to this article.  
 
 
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