Tour's focus: South Africa.

Last October, a delegation of prominent African-Americans traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa to meet with Nelson Mandela and other leaders of the African National Congress (ANC). Billed as the "Democracy Now tour," the group sought to determine the role that U.S. anti-apartheid organizations should play during South Africa's transition to democratic rule. The group also pledged to urge U.S. states, counties and cities to maintain economic sanctions against South Africa. The delegation comprised a broad spectrum of leaders including Rep. Maxine Waters (D.-Calif.), Arthur Ashe, co-chairman of Artists and Athletes Against Apartheid and National Council of Negro Women President Dororthy I. Height. A major development of meetings with ANC was the formation of the South African American Business Council, which will work to encourage the development of black business in South Africa.

Randall Robinson, executive director of TransAfrica, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying organization, says the council can play a significant role in creating much needed economic opportunities for everyone involved. "It is perhaps the first first time that African-Americans and black South Africans have agreed to collaborate in an effort that will be mutually beneficial to both groups," he says.

To achieve success, the effort cannot only be endorsed by Americans, says another member of the delegation, Earl G. Graves, CEO of Earl G. Graves Ltd., in New York and Pepsi Cola of Washington, D.C. LP. "The De Klerk government will have to sign on with some meaningful programs that are not in place now to make sure that the black South Africans can catch up with their white counterparts."