Not only the U.S. government, but also U.S. businesses are "prime allies" of apartheid, Brutus maintains. "Sometimes I think that our real oppressors are not in Pretoria, but in the boardrooms of the multi-national companies," he says, noting that corporate withdrawal from South Africa can play a major role in the eventual destruction of apartheid.

He mocks the suggestion that foreign investors can have a positive effect on the progress of Blacks in South Africa. "On the contrary," he says, "there is a great deal of evidence pointing to the corporations being interested in maintaining the apartheid system." He points out that when Black workers went on strike recently at General Motors and Ford factories, the management called in police to arrest the union leaders. "Where is this purported commitment to buck the system, to help the Blacks?" he asks Discounting improvements in material wealth for Blacks effected by some corporations, he says. "It doesn't matter what you pay us in wages. We want our freedom: we want to run our country."

Universities like Harvard can lead the way in bringing about corporate withdrawal, says the college professor and political activist. But even though many colleges made commitments to some form of divestment in the early 1970s, he says he is worried that many institutions are now reconsidering their decisions. At too many schools, Brutus thinks, the question of divestment has been relegated to ineffective committees or research groups that allow the universities to appear concerned while taking-no-effective action. While Brutus does not consider Harvard's Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility as bad as many of these groups, he sees it as "part of the same runaround."

Instead of "passing the buck," universities must lead the way in ethical investing. Brutus says, decrying the argument put forth by some colleges that it is not their place to make foreign policy. Such excuses, he explains, "abdicate all moral responsibility." Brutus also condemns the contention that some Blacks actually want the corporate help. "You can always find Uncle Toms who will parrot what needs to be said," he notes. "There is a reward for collaborating with the system," he adds, pointing to the economic advancement of Blacks who have supported outside investment in the country. Far more telling than the occasional Black support of Western involvement. Brutus suggests, is that "in South Africa, it is a crime punishable by death to call for divestment."

During the last 10 years, Brutus has urged total American corporate withdrawal from South Africa. "What we really want and what we should be going for constantly is divestment. That's it. Whether it is in relation to banks or corporations, the African demand is 'Get them out.'"

But even if his demands are not heard in corporate boardrooms, his work is well appreciated by other anti-apartheid activists. "He's a great human being--what more can I say?" says Jennifer Davis, head of the American Committee on Africa, a public advocacy group. And Salih AbdulRahim of the TransAfrica group, praises his fellow activist for helping people understand complex South Africa-related issues in personal terms.

Although Brutus still faces possible deportation and although the demise of South Africa's apartheid system still appears distant, the poet/activist remains surprisingly optimistic about the prospects of improvement for his people. He sees America playing an important role in the process; "I find a tremendous surge of radicalism and activism beginning, just the start of a ground swell; and as the Reagan plan unfolds, people are going to get more and more angry. There are going to be a lot more people out in the street, marching." Brutus reflects on his anti-apartheid activities in America and South Africa with considerable satisfaction, but also with a sense of how great the task is for the future. As for his own plans, Brutus smiles wryly. "They depend, I suppose, on God and the Imagination Services"