African American Resistance Movement

Considered a touchy topic for some people, the African American resistance movement had many factors contributing to its success. Some may debate how some of these factors served a legitimate purpose, but this film discusses the role of music. We gain an insight into some individuals who believed the music acted as a vital contributor to the movement while others felt it became popular because of the movement. Personally, I stand on the side that believes the music acted as a catalyst in the movement. This film provides us with many examples of the black South Africans using the music to fuel their resistance. In fact, I do not understand how you can have any other viewpoint after watching this film because it thoroughly explains how certain

songs motivated them to keep fighting. It takes us through the Nelson Mandela election and talks about how the people of South Africa used music to first, free Mandela and then help him win the election. Some of the individuals they interviewed wrote songs for the sole purpose of motivating the black South Africans to stand up and fight for their freedom. They found ways to use the language in their songs to speak against the leaders in their country that had implemented the apartheid system. This included not only the songs, but a radio station solely devoted to spreading awareness for their movement. The black South Africans had an excellent movement without the music, but with the music, they had a type of resistance that everyone could rally around. The music not only provided them with motivation, but resistance chants as well.
The purpose that the black South Africans fought for was a set of rules that discriminated against them known as apartheid. Before 1948 this idea existed, but it was not until then when the National Party came into office and established the name, “apartheid” (Academic 2018). This government implemented several sanctions that prevented the black people of South Africa to have any of the privileges that the white people had. Much like the rules put in place by the United States law enforcement during our civil rights era, the regulations kept the black South Africans separate from the whites. Its sole purpose was to prevent specific ethnic groups from having the same rights as the white South Africans that controlled the government and law enforcement. An example of how outrageous the apartheid system was can be found in a column written by someone in the September 7, 1973 version of the Rand Daily Mail. In the column, the individual explains that because of the rules set forth by the government, if a black South African finds themselves in need of an ambulance, a white ambulance cannot stop for them even if it is empty (Radebe 1973). Another example can be found in this same article but written by an anonymous person. This person explains a situation in which African adults cannot view adult movies; instead, they must watch the same movies that white children must watch (Anonymous 1973). By giving us a perspective of the individuals who witnessed apartheid every day, we get to see how unjust these sanctions were and why the African people felt so strongly about creating change.
The Africans in this film exceptionally creative ways to use music to resist the Apartheid system.

Many of them wrote songs that focused specifically on freedom while others created songs that spoke about harming the white South Africans. One of my favorite forms of resistance in this film is the creation of Radio Freedom. Discussed at the 58:30 mark in the documentary, Radio Freedom provided the black South Africans with an outlet to have their voice heard by a large mass of people. The radio station featured songs and speakers that could motivate the people to continue fighting for change and often reminded them of the purpose of their fight. Despite the uphill battle they still faced at the time, the black South Africans made progress gradually; therefore, the Radio Freedom often played songs that depicted the struggles they experienced to make the small amount of progress they had made at the time. Another example of music fueling their resistance involves the playing of Nikosi Sikolelei. This song acted as the anthem for the people that partook in the resistance movement and was a tune they sang out loud, often for the whole world to hear. Part of our class discussions, Nikosi Sikoleilei gave the black South Africans a sense of pride that they could not get from any outside sources. Together, they rallied around this song, using it to fuel their movement. Though I only provided two examples in this paper, there were many other ways in which music helped the African

people overtake Apartheid and survive through a difficult time.
This film featured many astonishing performances that caught my attention and made me stop to think about their real meaning.

One of those being, Ingoma. To me, the true meaning of this song, song for struggle, catches my attention because this short phrase can have a great level of depth to it. Performed at the 52:55 mark in this film, Ingoma involves an entire choir singing it without any instruments. Some may classify it as a chant, as many people sing along at the same time with one leader. Another song performed in this film is “Bring Back Nelson Mandela” which we see performed at the 1:24:00 mark in the film. Though it may have a lengthy title, this song meant exactly what the title suggests. It featured many instruments including drums, guitar, flute, and vocalists who were led by Hugh Masekela. Based on our class discussion of musical textures, I would say this song feature a polyphony texture because it has multiple parts blending together. Most people would classify this song as a solo performance with Hugh taking the lead. The third song I would like to mention goes by the name of “Watch out Verwoerd” and speaks specifically to the leader of the Apartheid system. Also created by Hugh Masekela, this song occurs at the 10:30 mark in the film and features a lead vocalist with backup singers. In the beginning, we can hear clapping followed by the sound of a ukulele or similar instrument. Because it includes two different parts, I would classify the texture of this

song as polyphony based on our class discussion and would refer to it as a solo performance just as I did the last song.
Protest music has evolved tremendously over the years and we often see the songs in their original form thanks to modern technological advancements. With that said, protest songs today still hold some of the same characteristics that the black South Africans used in their resistance movement. For example, in their book titled Music and Protest in 1968, Barley Norton and Beate Kutschke introduce us to the fact that Creedance Clearwater Revival wrote a song in 1965, Fortunate Son, that exposed the flaws in America (Norton and Kutschke 2013). We can compare this to many of the songs in the film because they too focused on exposing the harsh realities of their corrupt society. Both creations try to motivate people to push for change by making them aware of the issues that they face. These authors also tell us that in 1968, Joan Baez released a record titled Any Day Now. This song protested the numerous wars that America had put themselves in for no clear reason; additionally, it preached a change for a more peaceful world in which we did not need war. (Norton and Kutschke 2013) The rallying songs of the black South Africans’ movement often shared similar ideas of peace and times when all individuals could coexist without conflict. Overall, I do not believe protest music has evolved much since the Apartheid movement; why would it? The message the black South Africans spread to their people through music was critical in their success; therefore, many people trying to create change in society today, should reflect on what those people did and base their movement off that.
To conclude, I agree that music helped the black South Africans resist the Apartheid system and did not just come about because of the movement. By reviewing the lyrics of these protest songs, we can see that the African people could draw much motivation from the songs being created. Many of the performances featured varying instruments coupled with different methods of singing them. Some were sung by choirs while others involved solo performances by artists that wanted to participate in the movement against the Apartheid system. We have seen characteristics of these protest songs duplicated over the years with songs from Creedance Clearwater Revival and Joan Baez. Both artists created songs like those that the black South Africans produced during their own movement against the government. In my opinion, protests songs produced today cover some of the same issues that songs before did. Going into this project, I did not know how much I focus I would put into watching the film because it did not interest me in the beginning. However, after watching it all the way through, I am glad I did. The movie gave me an excellent view of a topic I did not know much about and taught me just how much of a profound effect music can have in society. I undoubtedly believe the music of the South Africans effected their resistance movement and anyone who is trying to start a similar revolt should reflect on what they did. It helped them create change and could help someone today do the exact same thing for their country.