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This documentary is a history of apartheid as told through the music of
the freedom songs. Apartheid was introduced in South Africa in 1948. Vuysile
Mini, a political activist and arguably the greatest songwriter of freedom songs,
was hanged and dumped in a pauper's grave. By 1950, blacks were forcibly
relocated to townships. Zulu warriors always sang before battle, now the
people of South Africa started singing - beginning with protest songs longing
for freedom that became calls to arms. Through the brutality during the
Soweto uprising of 1976 to the forcing of children to learn Afrikaans -
they sang to unite, to mourn, to incite, and to frighten the enemy. In
the 80's, the music progressed to angry war chants and finally in the 90's,
turned to celebration as Mandela was first freed, then elected President.
Amandla means power - the power to bring people to their feet and take
action. The songs may sound like catchy little ditties, but the words are
hymns of grief, or battle cries to rise up and kill their oppressors ("the
dogs must die") or warn the white people they have not forgotten.
They sang at the hanging prison as a way to communicate with one another.
The most beautiful and haunting song is the one that Sibongile Khumalo
sings at the end - to honor the ancestors.
Most of the activists, musicians, journalists, and freedom fighters interviewed
for the documentary were exiled from the country at one point. They talk
about the power of music and what it meant to them in their own particular
circumstances (like Thandi Modise, imprisoned for 9 years for refusing
to learn Afrikaans and being a ring-leader at her school). It's a little
disconcerting to see everybody smiling when they sing these songs of cruelty
and revenge. The white people included in the film (former prison guards
and police officers) come off uncaring and cruel.
The music of apartheid influenced several generations of singers and songwriters
- today, they still sing the songs and remember.
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