NELSON MANDELA

NELSON MANDELA

To many, the 2nd tribute concert to this icon turned out to be an insult rather than an act of honor.   I read one opinion and thought it should be relayed:

What a great missed opportunity Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert was (Mandela's day, June 28). Instead of a celebration of the resurgence of South African culture after the end of apartheid, we had fading rock stars or refugees from drug rehab, few of whom have ever identified themselves with struggle. The only white performers to have any relevance to the event were Simple Minds' Jim Kerr and Jerry Dammers.

When Mandela was in prison, London's music scene was revitalised by exiles from South Africa, and many British musicians like John Dankworth and Cleo Laine raised funds for the ANC. Nothing was said of this. The only representation of South Africa's indigenous music was a dazzling performance by Sipho Mabuse. The choir from Soweto was insultingly relegated to backing-up predominantly white performers, a continuation of cultural imperialism by other means.

And in among the pious platitudes about Mandela's sainthood, there was no recognition that the significance of the man was his life of struggle. It was too much to hope that ITV's presenters might display any understanding of the fact that the fight for justice in South Africa is by no means over, nor that racial injustice persists throughout the world.

  

Is it sad that this doesn't surprise me?