Soweto

Abdullah Ibrahim (formerly Dollar Brand), a founder of the African jazz movement, dedicated this composition to the 1970s youth-led uprising in Soweto, South Africa. It opens with the faint cry of a child. The accompanying images draw on both the apartheid era and the triumph over it.

Asimbonanga

Nelson Mandela makes a surprise appearance in this Johnny Clegg performance of Asimbonanga after the unbanning. The lyrics are powerful protest against the imprisonment of Mandela and his comrades a sense of loss for the murdered Steve Biko and others.

Coal Train

South African jazz musician Hugh Masakela tells the story of the life and labor of the immigrant coal and gold miners of South Africa, so hard that they curse the coal trains that brought them.

Friday Nite Videos -- Dec 6, 2013 (Mandela)

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Music has always been a powerful expression and organizing tool of the oppressed people of South Africa. Here is music inspired by and supporting their struggles, including the artists Hugh Masakela, Abdullah Ibrahim, Johnny Clegg and Gil Scott-Heron.

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Tom Toles - Washington Post GoComics

Celebrating the Life and Work of Nelson Mandela

Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Congress of South African Trade Unions
Statement by COSATU - The Congress of South African Trade Unions on the death today of Nelson Mandela - "the greatest ever South African and most inspirational leader in our struggle for liberty and democracy, our beloved Comrade, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela."

Celebrating the Life and Work of Nelson Mandela; Nelson Mandela Statement from the Dock in the Rivonia Trial

COSATU; Nelson Mandela
South Africa and the world today mourn the death of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela - leader in the fight against apartheid, head of the ANC and first president of a free South Africa. Statement by COSATU - The Congress of South African Trade Unions - "the greatest ever South African and most inspirational leader in our struggle for liberty and democracy..." Mandela's speech, "I Am Prepared to Die." from the dock in the Rivonia Trial in 1964 (full text and audio recording).

Tidbits - December 5, 2013

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Reader Comments - Philippine Recovery and Climate Change; Human Origins; "Strange Fruit;" North Carolina; Delbert Tibbs; Adjunct Unions; Corporate Profits-great infographic; South Africa - COSATU-ANC-SACP Alliance; Education; Healthcare; ALEC; Occupy; Steve Kindred; Race and Cuba; Announcements - The Invention of the White Race; Celebrating the Life of Father Paul Mayer; Pete Seeger's new book

Profile in Courage - WikiLeak's Sarah Harrison

John Goetz and Bastian Obermayer Süddeutsche Zeitung
An interview with Sarah Harrison of Wikileaks: Julian Assange's associate and Edward Snowden's guardian angel. She spent the last four months with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and arrived in Germany over the weekend. "When whistleblowers come forward we need to fight for them, so others will be encouraged. When they are gagged, we must be their voice. When they are hunted, we must be their shield. When they are locked away, we must free them."