south_africa_60203

Posted: 5/30/03

Song played role in South Africa

NEW YORK (RNS)–Did music help end apartheid in South Africa, a nation where long ago song, spirit and faith merged into one?

Yes, argues a new documentary that chronicles the role that song–inseparable from religious faith–played in the four-decade struggle to overthrow white minority rule in South Africa.

“Amandla: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony” communicates what New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell calls music's “subversive power.”

The documentary focuses in part on the music of Vuyisile Mini, a singer and composer executed in 1964 for his political activism.

Mini's acclaimed black freedom songs were remarkable for their haunting melodies and expressive power–so much so that even whites liked them. But few whites knew that one of Mini's catchy tunes was actually a song called “Beware Verwoerd”–an anthem in Xhosa warning Hendrik Verwoerd, the hated architect of apartheid, he faced a day of judgment.

Deep wells of religious tradition, symbolism and feeling were imbedded in the songs–a world of music and verse, memory and hope in which Nelson Mandela became Moses, the Walls of Jericho were more than a mere symbol and Jesus was a black liberator.

“Jesus was a big player in the freedom song scene,” said director Lee Hirsch. “'Jehovah will free us;' 'The liberation will come through Jesus, through Mandela;' 'Jesus will look after our boys in exile and comfort our mothers.' These were all common themes.”

With its profiles of musicians, singers and “freedom fighters,” scenes of singing and classic archival footage of leading figures, “Amandla” received acclaim at Sundance Film Festival and now has been released in New York and other major U.S. cities.

The central question the film poses is this: Did the struggle for black majority rule lead to song or did song lead to struggle?

One answer is that song and struggle could not be separated. Music itself became spirit, a life force, even redemption.

One reason music proved to have such redemptive power was because apartheid–the rigid system of racial segregation imposed in 1948 by a white minority government–proved so dehumanizing.

To overcome apartheid's dispiriting effects, solidarity was found in church.

As with many African-American congregations, the power of collective song and “letting the spirit rise” is central to the South African church experience.

That draws parallels to the experience of blacks in the American South fighting oppression.

“There has been clear cross-pollination,” Hirsch said.