Music
Mango Groove: the mixed-race South African band that defied apartheid with kwela pop
Formed in Johannesburg in the mid-1980s, Mango Groove brought together Black and white musicians at a time when…
apartheid
Music
Dorothy Masuka: the Zimbabwean-born singer whose songs were banned by apartheid
Dorothy Masuka, born in Bulawayo in 1935, became a star in 1950s Johannesburg with songs in Zulu, Ndebele…
Arts + Culture
South Africa banned “Fire in Soweto”. The townships played it anyway: Sonny Okosuns and the songs against apartheid
In 1977, Nigerian musician Sonny Okosuns released "Fire in Soweto" and "Papa's Land", attacks on apartheid South Africa.…
Arts + Culture
Lucky Dube sang about prisons and apartheid and sold reggae to a continent. A carjacker killed him in 2007
Lucky Dube, South Africa's biggest reggae star, began in mbaqanga before switching to reggae in the 1980s. Songs…
Arts + Culture
South Africa cancelled Miriam Makeba’s passport when she tried to bury her mother. She spent 31 years in exile
In 1960, the apartheid government revoked Miriam Makeba's passport when she tried to return home for her mother's…