Senzeni Na? (What have you done?)
A friend of mine suggested that I rent a documentary called "Amandla: A Revolution in Four Part Harmony" . It's about the South African Liberation struggle against the apartheid regime and it particularly focusses on the roles played by music in maintaining and articulating the ongoing opposition to racism and the system of racial segregation and oppression that was enshrined in apartheid.
Not that racism has disappeared, nor has the end of the regime meant that justice has been attained. There is still a long way to go in the new South Africa, but the success of the transition from white rule to a democratic multi-racial society is one of the best examples of the way in which determination and sheer persistence in justice pays off. And for that reason, it's a welcome alternative to the "sell-out and move up" ethos that pervades so much of the rest of modern US culture at this time.
There are so many good segments in the documentary that I could not hope to share them all.
You just have to rent it for yourself and see.
I want to highlight two particular things that i thought were very moving and very apropos for where we find ourselves today in the liberation struggle here in the United States.
The first, is the rhythmic dance-chant the Toyi-Toyi which was brought back to South Africa by Umkhonto we Sizwe (the armed wing of the ANC) fighters who had been sent to fight with freedom fighters in Zimbabwe. If you have ever seen crowd protest scenes in movies about the apartheid era (there's a good short segment in "A Dry White Season" and examples also in the recent movies "Stander" (2003) and "Catch a Fire" (2005)) this is it.
This chant is athletic so you need to be in good shape, but when a whole bunch of people are doing it, it resembles a mighty wave of energy. No wonder the white police officers crapped themselves when they faced a whole crowd of people toyi-toying. My fantasy would be to get protestors in the US to do it. The only problem is you have to have a bit of rhythm and be light on your feet.
The second highlight of the documentary was the song Senzeni Na? which translates as "What have you done?" it consists of just that one line repeated over and over again and was sung en masse at funerals, church services and (illegal) public gatherings. Senzeni Na? is a challenge to everyone who hears it. It calls on us all to ask ourselves "what have you done to make liberation that little bit closer?" Of course it gets a huge boost from being sung by crowds of people who are stricken with grief over the loss of a loved one, but it also helps us to look beyond our personal losses and to see them as part of a larger struggle.
As Gandhi said: "They cannot rule over us, unless we agree to let them do it".
Finally, the documentary gave me a chance to appreciate just how long it took to defeat apartheid. Almost 60 years. That's three generations of people who had to commit to the struggle alongside growing up, falling in love, raising children and having careers. It also makes you realize that small efforts can have cumulative effects if they are repeated over and over. If all of us work at one little bit of the sytem, it will fall. But like drips of water, we have to keep at it. Slowly, persistently,
The seductive thing about today's systems of injustice are that they often promise us immediate personal prosperity as long as we stay out of politics. In that sense we are all like Andre Brink's fictional Afrikaner school teacher in "A Dry White Season": As long as we keep our heads down and don't get involved, we and ours will be safe. No matter that others are being brutalized so that our privileged lifestyle can be maintained.
Don't give in to the immediate gratification. Be mindful of what it costs you and others, and what it will cost your children and your grandchildren.
Raise them to struggle against indifference, contempt and malice. Work to build a world where these things are just a little less normal and acceptable.
Senzeni Na, Senzeni Na
Senzeni Na, Senzeni Na
Not that racism has disappeared, nor has the end of the regime meant that justice has been attained. There is still a long way to go in the new South Africa, but the success of the transition from white rule to a democratic multi-racial society is one of the best examples of the way in which determination and sheer persistence in justice pays off. And for that reason, it's a welcome alternative to the "sell-out and move up" ethos that pervades so much of the rest of modern US culture at this time.
There are so many good segments in the documentary that I could not hope to share them all.
You just have to rent it for yourself and see.
I want to highlight two particular things that i thought were very moving and very apropos for where we find ourselves today in the liberation struggle here in the United States.
The first, is the rhythmic dance-chant the Toyi-Toyi which was brought back to South Africa by Umkhonto we Sizwe (the armed wing of the ANC) fighters who had been sent to fight with freedom fighters in Zimbabwe. If you have ever seen crowd protest scenes in movies about the apartheid era (there's a good short segment in "A Dry White Season" and examples also in the recent movies "Stander" (2003) and "Catch a Fire" (2005)) this is it.
This chant is athletic so you need to be in good shape, but when a whole bunch of people are doing it, it resembles a mighty wave of energy. No wonder the white police officers crapped themselves when they faced a whole crowd of people toyi-toying. My fantasy would be to get protestors in the US to do it. The only problem is you have to have a bit of rhythm and be light on your feet.
The second highlight of the documentary was the song Senzeni Na? which translates as "What have you done?" it consists of just that one line repeated over and over again and was sung en masse at funerals, church services and (illegal) public gatherings. Senzeni Na? is a challenge to everyone who hears it. It calls on us all to ask ourselves "what have you done to make liberation that little bit closer?" Of course it gets a huge boost from being sung by crowds of people who are stricken with grief over the loss of a loved one, but it also helps us to look beyond our personal losses and to see them as part of a larger struggle.
As Gandhi said: "They cannot rule over us, unless we agree to let them do it".
Finally, the documentary gave me a chance to appreciate just how long it took to defeat apartheid. Almost 60 years. That's three generations of people who had to commit to the struggle alongside growing up, falling in love, raising children and having careers. It also makes you realize that small efforts can have cumulative effects if they are repeated over and over. If all of us work at one little bit of the sytem, it will fall. But like drips of water, we have to keep at it. Slowly, persistently,
The seductive thing about today's systems of injustice are that they often promise us immediate personal prosperity as long as we stay out of politics. In that sense we are all like Andre Brink's fictional Afrikaner school teacher in "A Dry White Season": As long as we keep our heads down and don't get involved, we and ours will be safe. No matter that others are being brutalized so that our privileged lifestyle can be maintained.
Don't give in to the immediate gratification. Be mindful of what it costs you and others, and what it will cost your children and your grandchildren.
Raise them to struggle against indifference, contempt and malice. Work to build a world where these things are just a little less normal and acceptable.
Senzeni Na, Senzeni Na
Senzeni Na, Senzeni Na