Amandla! A Four Revolution in Four-Part Harmony

South Africans have always expressed themselves through music, dancing, very up-lifting beats and ritual dances.  Amandla! is a documentary was made in 2002 that truly depicts how much South Africans suffered during the Apartheid and really does show how much injustice there was against the South Africans. Many playwrights, poets, and activists came together to give their story and experience during the Apartheid during the 1940s through the 1990's.  The Apartheid in total simplicity took every single human basic right from the black citizens of South Africa and separate them from society and what they were used to.  Throughout the Apartheid many Africans were stripped of their homes and relocate to certain "designated" areas like camps with many little houses next to each other.

The biggest issue during the Apartheid, other than rights being removed from the Africans and living in complete misery, was the fact that they took their leader, Nelson Mandela and imprisoned him for "life".  Many of those who gave their testimony in Amandla! show the complete gratitude for making through the Apartheid and shared their most vivid memories about their experience.  

One thing that they all agreed on was the thing that kept them sane and intact, was expressing themselves through music, dancing, and poetry.  Many turned to expressing their sorrows and pain through songs that later became famous and almost every African would know a certain song and begin singing from their soul and heart.  Singing and composing songs of meaning and of what describe what they were going through and how they felt, was the one and only thing Africans could hold on to during the Apartheid.  Through all the segregation, many Africans turned to simply just singing about their feelings and the everything that was surround them.

This movie for me was extremely meaningful and emotional because i actually watched this movie while i was in South Africa this past summer.  I watched this movie during one of my seminars i had to attend for my program that i went through and seeing this movie in class, made me have flashbacks and it has an emotional connection to me.  I went to lectures and seminars that discussed the Apartheid and what South Africa went through and how the people there have suffered tremendously throughout the years. I also went to a village where i learned about the Xhosa people and i met a lady who was called "Mama Zulu" and she taught me a lot of different new things about the culture and rituals of South Africa.