Freedom

There is scientific evidence that music can help to ease the symptoms of depression – https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080122203158.htm. With this in mind, we invite you to take time out from your busy schedule, relax momentarily and listen to our “Inspiring Music Selection for Today”, personally selected for you by our President, Karl.

According to Karl: “Today’s selection is Independence Cha Cha by the great Congolese singer and bandleader  Joseph Tshamala Kabasele – popularly known as Le Grand Kallé. This moving piece of African Rhumba music is sometimes referred to as the mother all songs of the struggle for freedom and independence from colonial rule in the Africa of the 1950s and the 1960s.  The lyrics pay tribute to Patrice Lumumba – the political father of the Congo, and one of the greatest African statesmen ever.”

“The accompanying video features citizens intently listening to the radio, and spontaneously erupting into a joyous dance as Congolese independence is announced – after 52 years, freedom from the brutal yoke of European rule!  The video captures perfectly Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s – Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.

“Growing up in central Africa, this nostalgic song was an inspiration to me in my own personal struggle for a better life.  It fondly reminds me of the beautiful Africa of a bygone era, and of the heroes of the national liberation movement who inspired me while I was a student at the University of Malawi – including Patrice Lumumba (Congo), Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Julius Nyerere (Tanzania), Kenneth Kaunda (Zambia), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) and of course Nelson Mandela (South Africa). Nkrumah’s book Neo-Colonialism:The Last Stage of Imperialism set my mind on fire, and embarked me on a journey that eventually led me to America.”

“I hope you enjoy the song, and that it inspires you just as it inspires me.”

And here is a more reflective and emotional interpretation by Afro Fiesta from Cape Town, South Africa.