Below is the Special AKA's 'Free Nelson Mandela', a song that was released originally in 1984 when both the US and the UK supported South Africa's apartheid regime and it's stance that Mr. Mandela was in effect jailed for being a terrorist. The song was written by Jerry Dammers of The Specials after attending an anti-apartheid concert in London in 1983. Four years after the song's release, in time for Mandela's 70th birthday, Elvis Costello would pull together an all-star remake of the song to support further protests against apartheid and to rail against the continued imprisonment of Mandela. The song was performed at Wembley Stadium as part of a massive concert to 'Free South Africa'. Among the performers were UB40, George Michael, Whitney Houston, Simple Minds, Little Steven Van Zandt, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Al Green and Tracy Chapman.

The UK's anti-apartheid concerts and related records like 'Free Nelson Mandela' would spark a fire in the USA and help support movements in this country. Little Steven from the E Street Band would get on MTV with his all-star record called 'Sun City' pushing the message into the mainstream that the racist gov't of South Africa were the real terrorists. While pop culture was being hit with this message, college students in the US were pushing their universities to divest from companies that did business with South Africa. Major corporations like Coca-Cola began to have the spotlight shined on them due to their support of the apartheid regime as the movement spread details of who was doing business with the racist, ruthless and cruel government. The early and outspoken stances by popular recording artists of the day were without a doubt a major force in helping turn world opinion against South Africa, bringing about the fall of apartheid and leading to Mandela's release.




Posted by US&THEM