".IF.II.I.I:.". FRONTLINE: SOUTHERN AFRICA A TEACHING & STUDY GUIDE TO ACCOMPANY THE A.F.R.I. C.A. RECORD AND VIDEO "A.F.R.I.C.A. ": A LYRIC FOR LIBERATION (G. Bolton, A. Hamilton) LEARN THE WORDS- LEARN WHAT'S BEHIND THE WORDS CHORUS: ...I A-F-R-I-C-A, ANGOLA, SOWETO*, ZIMBABWE, TANZANIA, ZAMBIA, MOZAMBIQUE AND BOTSWANA SO LET US SPEAK! ABOUT THE MOTHERLAND! I know this girl whose name is Lola Apartheid, it's nothing less than conspicuous She lives in a country called Angola Anti-black and pro-ridiculous Her president's name is Dos Santos Feel it in ya' heart 'cause it's so for real And a man named Savimbi playin' him too close But in the mind it develops and becomes the deal She says "Hey, brothers, my country's in a war, we are As the struggle survives South Africans rely Fightin' rebels backed by Pretoria" On us and U-N-1-T-Y Upon bearin' this I was pretty upset, you know what? Thinkin' back as a slave, bonded in those chains continues I went and told the STET and the STET said The thoughts of being free was never the same Some committed suicide 'cause times were harsh Yo ... is Lola's last name Falana? And the ones who survived they got brainwashed No! Well my cousin lives in Botswana. From lightning and thunder hails the storm Aie they in war too? We can never forget 'cause the struggle lives on Is a heel on a shoe? My man, they know apartheid like I Release the chains or history will burst know you! Mandela, Mugabe, he's first, freedom's power The president is Masire, the capital Gaborone This is Africa's hour the unforgotten people in our... Where the fight for freedom is a universal tone. So are you with it? I'm in beyond a shadow of doubt. CHORUS Well let's spell it on, spell it on, spell it on out! South Africa no free neither are we CHORUS Those are our brothers and sisters across the sea I'm speaking for the STET and we make a plea I've seen the 1V report and I watched it all week To fight apartheid, everybody That Samora Machel of Mozambique To fight against de wicked and help Mugabe Was killed in a crash that couldn't be explained To fight apartheid and assist Nyerere Yo, D. I wanna break! Yo, brother, refrain! Support the MK and the ANC Kenneth Kaunda's in Zambia, I'm in America We wanna see Nelson and Winnie free SWAPO's in Namibia, Nyerere's in Tanzania You don't know, you need to study Mugabe's in Harare, Jesse just came back And when you do we're sure you'll agree From the homeland, the green and the black! So let's They need help but so do we spell it out! Them with their government Us with mentality CHORUS CHORUS *SOWETO is a black township in South Africa. It is not a © 1987, Tee Girl Music (BMI) Frontline State. It is referred to in this song because it is a All rights reserved. center of resistance to apartheid. Lyrics reprinted by permission. This study guide is designed to accompany the anti-Apartheid "A.F.R.I.C.A." rap record and video produced by Tommy Boy Music, 1747 First Avenue, New York City 10128. Buy the record in your local record store, or order the record, video and teaching guide from The Africa Fund, 198 Broadway, New York, NY 10038, (212) 962-1210. The A.F.R.I.C.A. Study Guide 1 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• A MESSAGE FROM THE STET Before we wrote the songA.F.R.I.C.A., some of us thoughtMrica was one big country. We never learned about the many countries on the continent. For most of us, Africa was far away. Another world. It was someone else's problem. When we started to check it out, we found out that the people there have names, families, and dreams -just like us. We realized that most of our group's families came from Africa - originally. Not because they wanted to, but because they were slaves. There are other connections between them and us. For one thing, we all want freedom. We all want justice, to feed ourselves, to have decent houses .. The whole deal! The system of slavery they call apartheid makes some people rich, and keeps a lot of folks poor. The Black people get the worst treatment. Big companies from our country are over there making money off the racist system. Also, our government seems to want to go along and get along with Apartheid. A.F.R.I.C.A. expresses how we feel about the situation. We hope that people who hear our words - and feel the beat - will learn more about the countries, leaders, movements and problems of "our brothers and sisters across the sea." It's not enough to know what you are against. You also have to know who you are for- and why. This study guide is filled with information. If you're a teacher, please educate your students about apartheid. If you're a student, encourage your teacher to share it with your class. We don't care who you are. There are facts in here that everyone needs to know. 2 The A.F.R.I.C.A. Study Guide •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• HERE'S A MAP OF SOUTHERN AFRICA: CAN YOU FILL IN THE NAMES OF THE COUNTRIES? ANGOLA BOTSWANA MOZAMBIQUE NAMIBIA SOUTH AFRICA TANZANIA ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE £\ ~.~ .. Maseru , Lla..Q_urban \LESOTHO"· .. ~::-..· .' · INDIAN OCEAN km 200 400 600 . ... mls 200 400 Southern Mrica credit: Joseph Hanlon. Apartheid's Second Front (Penguin Books. 1986). The A.F.R.I.C.A. Study Guide 3 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• "YOU DON'T KNOW, YOU NEED TO STUDY" -From Stetsasonic's rap A.F.R.I.C.A. WHERE IS APARTHEID? If your answer is South Africa you're only half right. Apartheid- pronounced apart-hate- is a product of South Africa. It is a system oflegalized racism that keeps all political power in the hands ofSouthAfrica's 4.5 million whites. South Africa's 25 million blacks have no rights. They are not allowed to vote, run for government office, or live where they want to. Housing, education, and health care are separate and unequal. And so are jobs and wages. • In South Africa, 87 percent of the land is reserved for whites. while the black majority is being pushed into overcrowded and barren rural areas that cover just 13 percent of the country. • In some black areas, half the children die before they reach age five. • Since 1984, thousands ofblacks have been killed by the South African army and police. Tens of thousands more have been arrested and tortured because of their opposition to apartheid. Almost half of the victims have been children. If you were in South Africa you could be arrested just for having this teaching guide. But you probably don't know how apartheid affects the lives of the 70 million people who live in southern Africa - in the countries near South Africa. You might not have heard that apartheid kills a black child in southern Africa every four minutes. You might not have known that South Africa has been waging war on its neighbors for over a decade. You might not know that 100,000 South African troops occupy another country and that millions of people in southern Africa are starving because of apartheid's war. This study guide is designed to help teachers and students use the A.F.R.I.C.A. song and video to learn how apartheid affects the whole region. To understand the "rap behind the rap," aL.d get involved to help end the hate that is apartheid. 4 The A.F.R.I.C.A. Study Guide •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• "A young child dies every four minutes as a result of South Africa's destablization." -"Children on the Frontline" A United Nations Report THE WAR IN SOUTHERN AFRICA We have all heard about the violence inside South Africa. South Mrica's government, desperate to maintain white minority rule, faces a growing threat from the peoples' demand for an end to apartheid. South Mrica's black majority is fighting back. This is the war in South Mrica. But there is a war in southern Africa as well. The war in southern Africa directly involves seven countries - Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland - and the territory of Namibia, which is illegally occupied and ruled by South Africa. The term "Frontline States" refers to the five largest of these countries near South Africa -Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe - and Tanzania, which is farther north. These independent countries are called Frontline States because they actively support the struggle for freedom inside South Africa. Apartheid South Mrica is also threatened by the very existence of countries that are governed by their black majority. If these countries succeed in creating societies free of racism and exploitation, then they demonstrate the moral bankruptcy of apartheid. Some of these The A.F.R.I.C.A. Study Guide 5 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• countries have enormous economic potential because of their wealth of natural resources. They offer a powerful example to the black majority in South Africa. So, apartheid South Africa is striking out militarily and economically, trying to destroy them. It's not a fair fight. South Africa is much strange~ militarily and economically The Frontline States are very poor. Many have recently won their independence from the countries that exploited them as colonies.