"During the past few days as the world has reflected on the life of President Nelson Rolihlala Mandela, these ordinary South Africans have been largely absent from the media accounts. We have witnessed a rapid re-writing of history where the struggle spearheaded by the mass democratic movement that marched past my classroom has been collapsed into the special personal determination and charisma of one great man and, at most, a small circle of people around him.
Having spent six and a half years in prison myself, I have the highest regard for Madiba. But he did not take his long walk to freedom alone, nor did he succeed because of some American-style rugged individualism. Madiba was a product of his traditional Xhosa community in the Eastern Cape. He was also a product of a hateful apartheid system that propelled him to envision a loving, inclusive alternative. But most importantly, Madiba was a product of some of the most profound social movements of the 20th century. From the ANC Youth League of the 1940s all the way through to the United Democratic Front and the Mass Democratic Movement of the 1980s, he was surrounded by thousands of people grappling with the complexities of changing a hateful system and constructing a society based on participatory democracy and sharing of wealth. That long road to freedom which Madiba walked was a crowded highway bursting with masses of creative, energetic, dedicated and vastly intelligent people. Madiba drew on their strengths to rise to his special heights. So when we remember him let us not swallow the iconized version of an African giant, but instead keep in mind all those who walked that road with him, without whom he never could have undertaken the journey.."
Songs for Mandela
Let Freedom Reign...
01-Rolihlahla
02-Sipho Mabuse - Nelson Mandela
03-Salif Keita-Mandela
04-Jalikunda Cissokho-Nelson Mandela
05-Youssou N'Dour - Nelson Mandela
06-Toyi Toyi
07-Shoskoloza Mandela
08- Souleymane Faye-God Bless Mandela
09-Koko Ateba - Nelson Mandela (will never give up)
10-Omar Pene-Mandela
11-Lovemore Majaivana & the Zulu Band-Prayer for Mandela
12-Abdullah Ibrahim-Mandela
13-Makwayela LAM - Ghogho Mandela
14-Miriam Makeba-Mbube
most grateful for the words and selection
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