Music and Social Commitment - Apartheid in South Africa

"NON SI PUO' NON COMUNICARE"

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MUSIC AND SOCIAL COMMITMENT

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Which song is 'socially committed'?

Ed Sheeran - Galway Girl [Official Video] (Enclavar)

Green Day - Troubled Times (Official Lyric Video) (Enclavar)

GUESS

Can you think of a song which talks about a social problem?

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Why is Music effective in Communication?

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"Music imprints itself on the brain deeper than any other human experience," says neurologist Oliver Sacks.  “Music can evoke emotion, and emotion can bring with it memory”

Songs connect our brain hemispheres

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Music interacts with our emotions! It can...

Be fun Help you to relax Make you dance  Cheer you up when you are sad Help you memorise  Remind you of a situation Make you melancholic Give you energy to work    

Music can be used to communicate (from Latin, meaning "to share") to unite people, motivate them in their political and cultural struggle. It can be used to draw attention to a specific problem or situation.

The Power of Music

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Pie de foto: : Live Aid was a benefit concert held on 13 July 1985, a fundraising initiative for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. The event was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London (72,000 people) and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia (attended by about 100,000 people)

Back to the '80s

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GUESS

Back in the '80s, what social situation had been causing lots of problems to a large group of people?

A system of institutionalised racial segregation and discrimination that existed in South Africa between 1948 and 1991. A policy that was embraced by the South African government shortly after the ascension of the National Party (NP) during the country's 1948 general elections.     

Apartheid in South Africa

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Trevor Noah: Is the World Getting Better? #GOALKEEPERS17 (Enclavar)

Apartheid allowed a ruling white minority to segregate, exploit and deliberately frighten the vast majority: Africans, mostly, but also Asians and Coloureds - people of mixed race.

The denial of fundamental human rights

The roots of Apartheid

South Africa was colonised by the Dutch and the English in the 17th century. Over the following centuries, the white settlers used force to take control of the land and establish a system of domination over Africans who originally inhabited the region. Though defeated by the British in a series of wars, the Boers (descendants from the Dutch) regained the upper hand upon the formation of the Union of South Africa, formed in 1910.

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Pie de foto: :

The Bantustan System

A Bantustan (also known as black state or simply homeland) was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa, as part of the policy of apartheid, for the purpose of concentrating the members of designated ethnic groups and creating autonomous nation states for them. In 1936 the African and mixed race people lost the right to vote. In 1948, The National Party won the all-white elections. In the 1960s, 3.5 million blacks were forced to leave their homes and resettled in designated native "homelands".

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Apartheid sparked international and domestic opposition, resulting in some of the most influential global social movements of the 20th century.  It was the target of frequent condemnation in the United Nations, and brought about an extensive arms and trade embargo on South Africa. 

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Opposition to Apartheid

Music and Social Commitment

Among the opponents to the Apartheid South African system we find lots of R&B, hip hop, jazz and rock singers. Sun City is a protest song written by Steven Van Zandt (known as Little Steven) in 1985 and recorded by Artists United Against Apartheid to convey opposition to the South African policy of apartheid.

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Why "Sun City"?

Sun City is a Vegas-style recreation center with glamorous hotels, gambling casinos, showrooms and spas, located in Bophuthatswana, one of South Africa's so-called "homeland" regions, where Zulus were relocated without their consent. It opened in 1979.

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Artists United Against Apartheid - Sun City (Official Video) (Enclavar)

Artists United Against Apartheid (1985)

In efforts to legitimize the area, Sun City has offered vast sums to entertainers to perform there. The Sun City complex has become a symbol of the opulence that whites enjoy at the expense of the country's black natives.  The artists involved in the recording of the song "Sun City" declared that they would refuse any offer to perform at Sun City. The project involved Bono (U2), Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Run-DMC, Lou Reed, Miles Davis, Ringo Starr, Peter Gabriel and many others.

We're rockers and rappers united and strong We're here to talk about South Africa, We don't like what's going on. It's time for some justice it's time for the truth We've realized there's only one thing we can do We gotta say I, I, I, I, I, I ain't gonna play sun city Oh, no, no, no I, I, I, I, I, I, I ain't gonna play sun city Relocation to phony homeland Separation of Families I can't understand 23 million can't vote because they're black We're stabbing our brothers and sisters in the back Our government tells us we're doing all we can Constructive engagemente is Ronald Reagan's plan

Meanwhile people are dying and giving up hope Well this quiet diplomacy ain't nothing but a joke It's time to accept our responsibility Freedom is a privilege nobody rides for free Look around the world baby it cannot be denied Somebody tell me why are we always on the wrong side   Bophuthatswana is far away  But we know it's in South Africa no matter what they say You can't buy me I don't care what you pay Don't ask me sun city cause I ain't gonna play

SUN CITY by AUAA

GUESS

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Can you think of an important leader who fought against Apartheid?   Have you seen the film "Invictus"?

Nelson Mandela & Francois Pienaar moment at RWC 1995 (Enclavar)

Nelson Mandela

Invictus, by William Ernest Henley Out of the night that covers me,  Black as the pit from pole to pole,  I thank whatever gods may be  For my unconquerable soul.  In the fell clutch of circumstance  I have not winced nor cried aloud.   Under the bludgeonings of chance  My head is bloody, but unbowed. (...) I am the master of my fate,  I am the captain of my soul. 

Nelson Mandela fought with the ANC (African National Congress) to give voting rights to black and mixed race Africans and, from the 1940s, to end Apartheid. The ANC originally attempted to use nonviolent protests to end apartheid, however, on 8 April 1960, the ANC was banned and forced to leave South Africa. After the ban, the ANC formed the Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) to fight against apartheid utilizing guerrilla warfare and sabotage. The National Party administration responded with repressive police state tactics, protracting sectarian violence that left thousands dead or in detention.

The Rivonia trial (1963-1964)

Nelson Mandela 'I Am Prepared to Die' Speech with subtitles transcript (Enclavar)

September '77 Port Elizabeth weather fine It was business as usual In police room 619 Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja The man is dead The man is dead When I try to sleep at night I can only dream in red The outside world is black and white With only one colour dead  

Biko by Peter Gabriel

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Pie de foto: : Stephen Bantu Biko (18 Dec 1946 – 12 Sept 1977) was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the anti-apartheid movement. He was famous for his slogan "black is beautiful", which he described as meaning: "man, you are okay as you are, begin to look upon yourself as a human being".

Peter Gabriel - Biko (Enclavar)

Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja The man is dead The man is dead You can blow out a candle But you can't blow out a fire Once the flames begin to catch The wind will blow it higher Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja The man is dead The man is dead And the eyes of the world are watching now

Biko by Peter Gabriel

Pie de foto: : Scenes from the film Cry Freedom based on books by journalist Donald Woods. The film centres on the real-life events involving black activist Steve Biko and his friend Donald Woods.

Nelson Mandela: The 1995 Rugby World Cup (Enclavar)

Reconciliation and unification

"I'm proclaiming the message of One Team, One Country. Rugby in South Africa, once a symbol for division and exclusion, had engaged across the threshold of a new era of a united and reconciled nation"

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Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Tribute

The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was a concert staged on 11 June 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London. The band called Simple Minds wrote and debuted the song ‘Mandela Day’ especially for the event. It was broadcast to 67 countries and an audience of 600 million. Marking the forthcoming 70th birthday (18 July 1988) of the imprisoned anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela, the concert was also referred to as Freedomfest, Free Nelson Mandela Concert and Mandela Day.

Between 1987 and 1993 the National Party entered into bilateral negotiations with the African National Congress, the leading anti-apartheid political movement, for ending segregation and introducing majority rule. In 1990, prominent ANC leaders such as Nelson Mandela were released from detention.  Apartheid legislation was abolished in mid-1991, pending multiracial elections set for April 1994.

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The end of Apartheid

Mandela Day (Simple Minds)

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It was 25 years they take that man away Now the freedom moves in closer every day Wipe the tears down from your saddened eyes They say Mandela's free so step outside Oh oh oh oh Mandela day Oh oh oh oh Mandela's free It was 25 years ago this very day Held behind four walls all through night and day Still the children know the story of that man And I know what's going on right through your land

Mandela Day (Simple Minds)

Simple Minds - Mandela Day (Enclavar)

If the tears are flowing wipe them from your face I can feel his heartbeat moving deep inside It was 25 years they took that man away And now the world come down say Nelson Mandela's free Oh oh oh oh Mandela's free The rising suns sets Mandela on his way It's been 25 years around this very day From the one outside to the ones inside we say Oh oh oh oh Mandela's free Oh oh oh set Mandela free Na na na na Mandela day Na na na na Mandela's free