Difference between revisions of "Meadowlands (1956)"

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== Background ==
 
== Background ==
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The Afrikaner National Party (NP) was elected to power in South Africa in 1948, and remained in control of the government for the next 46 years. The white minority held all political power during this time, and implemented the system of apartheid.<ref>http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/265/the-sounds-of-resistance-the-role-of-music-in-south-africas-anti-apartheid-movement. Michela E. Versbow. 2010. ''Inquiries Journal''. Retrieved January 21, 2021.</ref> "Apartheid" involved a brutal system of racial segregation, and the word itself meant "separateness" in Afrikaans. Black South Africans were forced to live in poverty stricken townships, and were denied basic human rights,[2] based on the idea that South Africa belonged to white people. The NP government passed the Group Areas Act in 1950 and the Bantu Resettlement Act in 1954. These laws forcibly relocated millions of South Africans into townships in racially segregated areas. This relocation was part of a plan to separate the black population of South Africa into tiny, impoverished bantustans.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/575204.stm. Michael Gallagher. 17 June 2002. ''BBC''. Retrieved January 21, 2021.</ref> The settlement of Sophiatown was destroyed during the implementation of this plan in 1955, and its 60,000 inhabitants forcibly moved. Many of them were sent to a settlement known as Meadowlands.
  
 
== Interpretation ==
 
== Interpretation ==

Revision as of 16:29, 21 January 2021

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Meadowlands was an anti-apartheid song composed in 1956 by Strike Vilakazi. It was written in reaction to the forced relocation of black South Africans from Sophiatown, to the new township of Meadowlands. The song was popularised by a number of musicians, including Dorothy Masuka and Miriam Makeba, and became an anthem of the movement against apartheid.[1]

Background

The Afrikaner National Party (NP) was elected to power in South Africa in 1948, and remained in control of the government for the next 46 years. The white minority held all political power during this time, and implemented the system of apartheid.[2] "Apartheid" involved a brutal system of racial segregation, and the word itself meant "separateness" in Afrikaans. Black South Africans were forced to live in poverty stricken townships, and were denied basic human rights,[2] based on the idea that South Africa belonged to white people. The NP government passed the Group Areas Act in 1950 and the Bantu Resettlement Act in 1954. These laws forcibly relocated millions of South Africans into townships in racially segregated areas. This relocation was part of a plan to separate the black population of South Africa into tiny, impoverished bantustans.[3] The settlement of Sophiatown was destroyed during the implementation of this plan in 1955, and its 60,000 inhabitants forcibly moved. Many of them were sent to a settlement known as Meadowlands.

Interpretation

Composition and Performance

Reference

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=I4WhCgAAQBAJ. Cathy Benedict, Patrick Schmidt, Gary Spruce, Paul Woodford. 2015. Oxford University Press. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  2. http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/265/the-sounds-of-resistance-the-role-of-music-in-south-africas-anti-apartheid-movement. Michela E. Versbow. 2010. Inquiries Journal. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/575204.stm. Michael Gallagher. 17 June 2002. BBC. Retrieved January 21, 2021.