“We have not seen him… We have not seen Mandela.”

Ruth McCambridge

December 13, 2013

December 11, 2013; Yahoo South Africa News

In the spirit of life and love, we bring you this flash mob performance of “Asimbinanga” by the Soweto Gospel Choir.The song was written when Mandela was in prison as a call for his release. It takes on an extraordinary power at this moment and in this setting—a Woolworths in South Africa.

Asimbonanga [we have not seen him]
Asimbonang’ uMandela thina [we have not seen Mandela]
Laph’ekhona [in the place where he is]
Laph’ehleli khona [in the place where he is kept]

Asimbonanga
Asimbonang ’umfowethu thina [we have not seen our brother]
Laph’ekhona [in the place where he is]
Laph’wafela khona [in the place where he died]
Sithi: Hey, wena [We say: hey, you]
Hey, wena nawe [Hey, you and you]
Siyofika nini la’ siyakhona [when will we arrive at our destination]

—Ruth McCambridge

About the author

Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is Editor Emerita of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.

More about: Arts and Culture Community Organizing Global Issues Nonprofit News Policy

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