Amandla! Music With a Message
And a Bounty of Black History Programs

By Esther Iverem
SeeingBlack.com Editor and Film Critic

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Amandla

During that momentous era of Nelson Mandela's release from prison, his election in 1994 as South Africa's first Black president and the end of that country's vicious system of apartheid, the moving anthem, "Nkosi Sikel' iAfrika," (Bless, O Lord, Our Land of Africa), became an anthem for people who care about freedom on the continent and the world over.

And though the anthem's worldwide popularity came on the heels of other exported South African freedom songs, through the musical "Sarafina!" and through artists such as Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela, it still represented only the tip of a larger body of songs that helped build and sustain the anti-apartheid movement. This history of music and struggle in South Africa is at the heart of "Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony," a new documentary, years in the making, being screened in theaters around the country.

First-time director Lee Hirsch, along with producer Sherry Simpson, both Americans, have artfully combined storytelling and music. The emphasis of "Amandla!" (which means power in Xhosa) is not on the horrors and genocide of apartheid, a brutal system under which the country's 20 million Blacks were ruled by a tiny White minority. But it does offer an overview about major changes in the country, starting roughly with the all White national Party coming to power in 1948 and bringing with it a new level of repression of the Black population.

This history merges with music in the little-known story of composer and activist Vuyisile Mini. After the election of the National Party in 1948, Mini wrote the famous song in South Africa, "Beware Verwoerd," which warns Hendrick Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid, that one day he would get his comeuppance. Mini was ultimately imprisoned and executed for his songs. The story of the brave and victorious manner in which Mini went to his death, still singing defiantly and with other prisoners joining in, is one of many moving narratives in the film. His story is told amid stunning scenes of his bones being unearthed in a crude grave, and then reburied in a hero's ceremony.

Equally important is the fact that "Amandla!" serves as an archival record for many indigenous folk songs that have been passed down verbally, and are a part of Black South African oral history, but have not been recorded until now. (One bitter-sweet segment includes Mini's family singing "Beware Verwoerd" as we know they are also reburying him.) Songs sprinkled throughout the film are sung by people in their homes, in meetings, at stadium gatherings, such as the new government's victory rally in 1995. Interviews with surviving activists, almost all with those associated with the ruling African National Congress, bring the narrative through the decades and up to the present. Footage of artists such as Masekela, Makeba and pianist Abdullah Ibrahim fill out the story, making "Amandla!" a story about a music and people that touched and changed the world.

Related Sites:

• Official "Amandla!" Web Site

You Still Might Be Able to Catch These…

Riveting documentaries, readings from the slave narratives, as well as important new feature films are all being offered on television in honor of Black History Month. While there is a plethora of BHM programming on national and local channels, with many recycled and re-run shows (check local listings), we present here new or recent produced shows.

For awhile now in February we have been able to count on important broadcasts of documentaries about the civil rights movement and leaders such as the Rev. Martin Luther King or Malcolm X. But things are changing. Recent documentaries, including last year's "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow" on PBS have dug a little deeper and shifted focus, offering important history on the events, people and struggles leading to the decades of the 1950's, '60's and '70's that shook the nation and world.

This new crop of documentaries continues this month on several stations. Premiering on HBO is "Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives," a moving, 74-minute program that highlights the life stories of enslaved African-Americans, as told in their own words during the 1930's. At that time, there were approximately 100,000 men and women still living who had been born into slavery and many of their narratives, collected by journalists and others employed by the federal government's Works Progress Administration, are housed at the Library of Congress.

For this program, which is narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, powerful excerpts are read by 18 actors, including Samuel L. Jackson, Angela Bassett, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Roger Guenveur Smith, Courtney Vance and CCH Pounder. Each actor, shot close up, speaks directly into the camera, creating an intimate portrait of the dehumanization and resilience of the human spirit—backbreaking toil, freezing winters with no shoes and little food, the tearing asunder of families, the rape of Black women and the neutering of Black manhood. Readings are combined with actual photos of the men and women who offered their stories, other historic photos and footage of Southern Blacks.

Repeating on PBS affiliates (check local listings) is "Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin," a candid portrait of the life of the civil rights and peace activist who was openly gay during a time when the United States was less open-minded about homosexuality. Directed by Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer, the 83-minute program is lively, informative and chock full of interesting footage and interviews, including those with Rustin's White lovers. It traces Rustin's life from his childhood in the segregated town of West Chester, Pa., to his powerhouse years as a mentor to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and as the organizer of the historic 1963 March on Washington.

Rustin is shown as a smart, committed man who, partly because of his homosexuality and one-time arrest on a "morals charge," was a political liability to the struggling civil rights movement. In many instances, he was made an outsider in the movement to which he dedicated his life. The producers attempt to make the case that if it weren't for Rustin's homosexuality, that he would have been a leader on par with King but "Brother Outsider" does not make this case convincingly. If anything, it shows that Rustin's outsider status was just as much a product of his lifestyle, which was decidedly outside the spiritual and cultural mainstream of Black culture, as his sexual preference.

Also repeating on PBS affiliates is: "Two Towns of Jasper," which documents the aftermath of the infamous case in Jasper, Texas, in which James Byrd, Jr. was dragged to death by White racists; "Invisible Soldiers," which details the untold story of Black soldiers in World War II; "American Roots Music: When First Unto This Country," which traces music from Africa to America and "Bob Marley: Rebel Music," a documentary on the life of the reggae superstar with home videos, interviews and rare concert footage.

There will be several programs on the History Channel, including three world premieres. On "HistoryCenter: Julian Bond on Civil Rights," Julian Bond will discuss with host Steve Gillon the struggles and successes of the civil rights movement and where things stand today. "Alcan Highway" documents the back-breaking work of 11,000 soldiers, nearly 4,000 of them Black, who built the 1,500-mile long Alaska highway in 1942. "The Wendell Scott Story," based on the life of stock car racer Wendell Oliver Scott broke racing's color barrier in 1961.

Documentary makers aren't the only ones who get to shine this month. Many PBS affiliates (check local istings) are airing "Africa in the Picture," billed as the first national broadcast of African films. Hosted by Danny Glover, the program will include Ousmane Sembene's "Faat Kine," Djibril Diop Mambety's "Le Franc and La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil" and Issa Serge Coelo's "Daresalam."

Showtime is premiering two original movies that also happen to touch on important moments in Black history. "Deacons For Defense," stars Forest Whitaker and tells the story of the everyday Southern Black men who armed themselves during the 1960's to protect their communities and civil rights workers against violence from the Ku Klux Klan and other opponents of equal rights and desegregation. Creative use is made of color and black-and-white footage to re-create the sense of real history. Neighborhood and protest scenes are edited along with actual historical footage of civil rights demonstrators being attacked by police. Similar use is made of actual or re-created news broadcasts that detailed the growing danger faced in Bogalusa, La., where the deacons were formed.

Also repeating on Showtime is the Black Filmmaker Showcase, that gives exposure and prize money to emerging filmmakers and "Good Fences," a quirky tale about one family's upward mobility during the 1970's. Danny Glover (who always gets to play these funky roles) plays the part of Tom Spader, an attorney who is determined to move up the career ladder, even if it means being a literal Tom. As he sells out and scores brownie points at his law firm, he and his family move from their middle class Connecticut town to the nearby WASPy haven of Greenwich. There, the family faces tests of identity and integrity and figure out what it means to "make it" in their new White world. "Good Fences" adds a dimension to how film has depicted Black families, class conflict and the groovy, topsy-turvy '70's.

Esther Iverem's reviews often appear on BET.com and Africana.com.

-- February 28, 2003

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