Music, poetry, theatre, and other arts can be incredibly powerful tools in knowledge, awareness, and change, especially during times of oppression. A song or poem can carry meaning across cultures, and a dance can display universal truths about all human beings. Few people know this better than Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse and Vusi Mahlasela.

Like many musicians whose music came out of the Apartheid-era South Africa, such as Miriam Makeba or Hugh Masekela, Sipho and Vusi have many stories to share about the fight for freedom through the arts.

Sipho has been in the music business for more than forty years, and his songs represent South Africa’s people, history, and soul. His musical influences range from Charlie Parker to Stevie Wonder to the local culture from his township of Soweto.

With the release of Burn Out in 1984, Sipho’s music did something very rare; it crossed racial lines. The melody was addictive, the beat hard to resist. For the first time, white South Africans heard the music of the township, making this single song a surprisingly uniting force.

Sipho often embedded secret political references in his lyrics. This was a dangerous practice with a threat of imprisonment and even exile.

Another person well-versed in the power of musical activism is Vusi Mahlasela. On his recent trip to New York City, Vusi shared the story behind my favorite song of his, When You Come Back. He wrote this piece while many of his fellow political activists were in exile. He asks, “Will they beat the drums when you come back?” These lyrics express his hope for those forced abroad to return home to a hero’s welcome and a better South Africa.

Coming Up: The leaders of the “Rainbow Nation”.

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