"I Am Not Being Alarmist, I Am Simply Stating the Facts"

"Because of the actions taken by governments during and after that crisis, including, I should add, by aggressive steps by my administration, the global economy has now returned to healthy growth. But the credibility of the international system, the faith in experts in places like Washington or Brussels, all that had taken a blow.
"And a politics of fear and resentment and retrenchment began to appear, and that kind of politics is now on the move. It's on the move at a pace that would have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago."

The Guardian publishes a transcript of Barack Obama's speech in Johannesburg, South Africa.

"I Haven't Said That Before"

"When I pressed him further, he suddenly came out with a quite remarkable outburst, explaining his view on music and politics.
"'Personally, I feel I'm with the musicians,' he said. 'I'm with the artists. I didn't ask the permission of the ANC. I didn't ask permission of Buthelezi, or Desmond Tutu, or the Pretoria government. And to tell you the truth, I have a feeling that when there are radical transfers of power on either the left or the right, the artists always get screwed. The guys with the guns say, "This is important", and the guys with guitars don't have a chance.'"

Robin Denselow in a 2014 Guardian article recalls the controversy over Paul Simon's Graceland.

Shoes Too Small to Fit His Feet

"It didn't exactly spring Mandela from jail single-handed, but it raised awareness of his plight like nothing else and helped to make apartheid one of the defining causes of the 1980s, something the man himself acknowledged after his release in 1990. And Dammers went further by founding the lobby group Artists Against Apartheid. In its broad outline it is an uplifting tale, but the full story is a turbulent affair, involving mental illness, creative paralysis, crippling debt, and a damaging musical row during which Dammers found himself on the opposing side to two black South African musicians who had been fighting apartheid decades before he paid that life-changing visit to Alexandra Palace: Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba."

Spin runs an excerpt from Dorian Lynskey's 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, from Billie Holiday to Green Day about the Special A.K.A.'s "Free Nelson Mandela."

Twenty-[Seven] Years in Captivity

"Mr. Mandela’s quest for freedom took him from the court of tribal royalty to the liberation underground to a prison rock quarry to the presidential suite of Africa’s richest country. And then, when his first term of office was up, unlike so many of the successful revolutionaries he regarded as kindred spirits, he declined a second term and cheerfully handed over power to an elected successor, the country still gnawed by crime, poverty, corruption and disease but a democracy, respected in the world and remarkably at peace."

Bill Keller in The New York Times writes an obituary for Nelson Mandela.

"How to Make It All Last"

"'It's electric,' said Taryn May. 'The image that I had of South Africa before was that it was a bit stagnant and struggling to progress. Now I get a vibe like there's a lot of energy and hope.'"

In the Los Angeles Times, Robyn Dixon reports on South Africa's experience in hosting the World Cup.
Addendum: Spain wins the Cup.

The Group of Life

"Thus the Americans got just about everything they could have wanted Friday, and all within the rules of the game."

Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News considers the American team's chances as it will initially face Algeria, England, and Slovenia in the 2010 World Cup.

Sam's Club

"'This isn't an easy place to play,' Donovan said."

Grahame L. Jones in the Los Angeles Times reports the United States victory over Honduras, qualifying the national team for the 2010 World Cup.

Farewell to Mama Africa

"Music was a central part of the struggle against apartheid. The South African authorities of the era exercised strict censorship of many forms of expression, while many foreign entertainers discouraged performances in South Africa in an attempt to isolate the white authorities and show their opposition to apartheid.
"From exile she acted as a constant reminder of the events in her homeland as the white authorities struggled to contain or pre-empt unrest among the black majority."

Alan Cowell in The New York Times reports the death of singer Miriam Makeba.