Mandela’s Music

All these decades later, the most vivid image of the anti-apartheid struggle I carry in my head is the TV clips of protestors doing the toyi toyi in a mist of tear-gas, singing defiantly to phalanxes of riot policemen. As the true successors to Gandhi, South Africans proved that it was possible to shame their oppressors by holding steadfastly to truth – and music.

In 2003, to celebrate a decade of freedom and to thank India for its support in the struggle, the South African government gave Bombay a joyful gift: a trio of concerts by three of its most accomplished musicians. The apartheid regime had forced trumpet player Hugh Masakela, pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and vocalist Letta Mbulu into exile and they’d spent years as cultural warriors, touring the world to enlist support for their cause. When Nelson Mandela was released from prison, they all returned home and rolled up their sleeves to get down to the hard task of building a new nation. I had the good fortune to interview all of them.

“The problems of India didn’t go away in 1947 when the British left,” Hugh Masakela said, hours before he performed this classic at the NCPA. “People tend to look at South Africa as a Bollywood movie in which the people go dancing into the sunset of the Deccan Plateau. But when you become free you inherit the problems that weren’t fixed by the previous oppressor. Our government is (being) expected to work miracles.” You can read the piece here.

“We are in a mode of reconciliation and rediscovery,” said Abdullah Ibrahim. “Like Gandhi helped India re-establish the time cycle that had been severed by colonialism, we’re going to use music to become whole again.” Piece here.

“Artists have a third eye that other people don’t have. We can see things they can’t see,” Letta Mbulu maintained. “If you can sing the right song with the right words, you can change people’s mindsets.” You can read the piece here.

Finally, as a tribute to Mandela’s legacy, a video on why we need to keep toyi-toying in the 21st century.