William Kentridge creates animation by working into charcoal drawings; drawing, erasing, redrawing, layering, to create stories that frequently link the intensely intimate with the politics of his native South Africa. Johannesburgh -1989 introduces characters that recur through many of his films. [more inside]
posted by louche mustachio on May 6, 2009 - 5 comments

"Far more is known about...the activities of the secret service in Moscow...than what the England selectors said and did that night": Basil D'Oliveira was a Coloured South African all-round cricketer who moved to the UK to avoid the colour bar that prevented him representing South Africa; representing England with considerable credit, he created a crises for English and South African cricket, with Nazi sympathiser and South African Prime Minister Vorster ordering the British not to select him to tour South Africa. [more inside]
posted by rodgerd on Jan 11, 2009 - 8 comments

Then and Now presents works from 8 South African documentary photographers - each contributes 10 photos taken during apartheid and 10 made since the democratic elections of 1994. (On display at Duke University through July 27.) [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive on Apr 13, 2008 - 12 comments

"REwind: A Cantata for Voice, Tape and Testimony" debuts tomorrow night in New York. South African composer Philip Miller listened to hundreds of hours of audio cassettes from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings - the testimonies of torture victims, as well as their torturers who were given pardon in exchange for their testimony - and composed music around the samples he selected. It premiered in Capetown in late 2006; utterly haunting excerpts available here and here.
posted by jbickers on Jul 5, 2007 - 7 comments

Carlos Latuff is a political cartoonist from Brazil whose work can be described as pro-Palestine , anti-America and uh, anti-McDonalds?. He has given his side of the story, but his latest images on DeviantArt take a different direction in his anti-American artwork.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia on Apr 22, 2007 - 54 comments

The idea of a single, bi-national state is not new. Its appeal lies in its attempt to provide an equitable and inclusive solution to the struggle of two peoples for the same piece of land. It was first suggested in the 1920s by Zionist leftwing intellectuals led by philosopher Martin Buber, Judah Magnes... and Haïm Kalvarisky... Underlying their Zionism was a quest for a Jewish renaissance, both cultural and spiritual, with a determination to avoid injustice in its achievement. It was essential to found a new nation, although not necessarily a separate Jewish state and certainly not at the expense of the existing population.

Time for a bi-national state
See also B'Tselem's Map of Jewish Settlements In The West Bank
posted by y2karl on Mar 12, 2007 - 39 comments

In apartheid South Africa, "We were the first blacks to go everywhere, that was the power of our music." Despite dozens of album credits, two Grammys and the long list of major artists they've performed with, their proudest accomplishment may be singing at President Mandella's inauguration and being told "Your music gave me hope when I was in prison." Ladysmith Black Mambazo has been making a difference with their traditional Zulu Isicathamiya music for over 40 years. Listen.[popup w/audio]
posted by raedyn on Feb 16, 2006 - 11 comments

Last week, the Guardian posted a three-part special report by their Middle East correspondent (and former South African correspondent) Chris McGreal on the similarities between the current situation in Israel and the South African Apartheid regime. The report provoked many heated responses, a selection of which is reproduced here and here. The Guardian responded by inviting Benjamin Pogrund, former deputy editor of the famously anti-Apartheid Rand Daily Mail in Johannesburg, author of a number of books on South Africa and founder of Yakar, a Jerusalem center for Israeli-Palestinian dialogue to weigh in with a response.
posted by ori on Feb 13, 2006 - 20 comments

Why Does Archbishop Desmond Tutu Hate Our Christian Moral Values? In an interview with MSNBC, the nobel prize winner slams George Bush. "I had naively believed all these many years that Americans genuinely believed in freedom of speech. [But I] discovered there that when you made an utterance that was remotely contrary to what the White House was saying, then they attacked you. For a South African the déjà vu was frightening. They behaved exactly the same way that used to happen here [during apartheid]—vilifying those who are putting forward a slightly different view."
posted by expriest on Dec 30, 2004 - 95 comments

Apartheid Dies Second Death A South African court has declared marriage discrimination to be unconstitutional, and has registered the union of Marie Fourie and Cecelia Bonthuys. Henceforth, marriage in South Africa will be defined as "the union of two persons to the exclusion of all others for life."
posted by expriest on Nov 30, 2004 - 37 comments

The Apartheid Wall continues. Haaretz reports that Israel will soon begin construction of the wall around the illegal settlement of Ariel , deep inside the West Bank, stealing thousands of acres of Palestinian farmland in the process.
posted by Ty Webb on Jun 14, 2004 - 65 comments

South African township art , urban art, and recycled craft, some of it inspired by the anti-apartheid struggle or day-to-day survival in the post-apartheid era (and a common 'language' in multi-lingual townships).
posted by plep on Oct 13, 2003 - 2 comments

South African Photography during the Era of Apartheid. A good collections of photos of men, women and children.
Related :- Inside Africa: Soweto uprising remembered - the famous photo of Hector Peterson; Sam Nzimi, Photographer of the Apartheid Era; Peter Magubane.
posted by plep on May 27, 2003 - 1 comment

"Give me your heart / Make it real / Or else forget about it." Baghdad snapshot action. The sounds of an actual chemical attack. A Republican, Ron Paul of Texas speaks his mind on C-SPAN. (RealPlayer). Feisty members of the Greatest Generation sass a Defense Department spokeswoman at a town meeting. Apartheid leader Pik Botha takes up the cause of nuclear disarmament.
posted by sheauga on Feb 15, 2003 - 10 comments

Sexual apartheid suported by American companies such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and other U.S. firms operating in Suadi Arabia. Sun City anyone?
posted by Mick on Dec 22, 2001 - 46 comments

Former South African first lady de Klerk murdered
Believed to be the latest victim of the country's crime wave, she was found in her apartment.
posted by tomcosgrave on Dec 5, 2001 - 3 comments

Donald Woods, the South African writer, editor and anti-apartheid activist has died after succumbing to a two year illness. It feels right that MeFi too should mention it and pay its respect.. [...]
posted by Kino on Aug 21, 2001 - 3 comments

South Africa: apartheid is dead, but the attitude is still alive
posted by owillis on Nov 17, 2000 - 2 comments

On October 15thThe Guardian had for its editorial "If Palestinians were black, Israel would now be a pariah state subject to economic sanctions led by the United States. Its development and settlement of the West Bank would be seen as a system of apartheid, in which the indigenous population was allowed to live in a tiny fraction of its own country, in self-dministered 'bantustans', with 'whites' monopolising the supply of water and electricity. And just as the black population was allowed into South Africa's white areas in disgracefully under-resourced townships, so Israel's treatment of Israeli Arabs - flagrantly discriminating against them in housing and education spending - would be recognised as scandalous too.

Expanding on this description, Noam Chomsky gives an account of Israel's shift from coercive diplomacy to using direct force in implementing its "final status map". That is, the cantonization, containment and control of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
posted by lagado on Oct 29, 2000 - 23 comments