7/17 Go Mandela! It’s your Birthday!
Posted by novoscene on July 17, 2008
Nelson Mandela turns the big 9-0 tomorrow, and to celebrate the B-day of the historic South African freedom fighter, Ashkenaz is hosting a special performance by freedom song choir, Vukani Mawethu.
“Vukani Mawethu was formed in 1986 for a concert at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall organized by the late South African singer and freedom fighter James Madhlope Phillips. Since then it has performed at festivals, concert halls and rallies for an array of social causes, using music to uplift spirits and move the struggle forward. The nonprofit, multiracial choir sings the freedom songs of Southern Africa, primarily of South Africa, in Zulu, Xhosa, Sethu, and English, and also gospel, spirituals, labor, and civil rights songs linking peoples in the U.S., South Africa, and around the world. The choir continues to sing out against racism and injustice whenever and wherever possible – from small AIDS rallies to homeless shelters and prisons, and throughout the cities and townships of South Africa on a dynamic cultural tour in 1997. Proceeds from concerts go to support a return trip to South Africa and to help ongoing AIDS work in that country.”
Vukani Mawethu
$12
8pm
Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center
1317 San Pablo Ave. Berkeley
www.ashkenaz.com
www.vukani.com
