“I know the first time I heard there was trouble in the Middle East, I thought they was talking about Pittsburgh”

Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011), ¡Presente! ¡Viva Hip Hop! ¡Stand against apartheid!

Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011), a grandfather of hip hop, spoke the above line as part “Let Me See Your I.D.,” a contribution by some of the masters of the artistic movement and their allies in rock, jazz, salsa, Afrobeat, and the South African a cappella tradition, to Sun City, the 1985 collaboration of Artists United Against Apartheid (AUAA). Inspired by Peter Gabriel’s haunting tribute to South African martyr Steve Biko (1946-1977), the album and its title track featuring 54+ artists, managed to barely crack the pop charts while being heavily kept out of rotation by corporate radio. 

In this year, we have witnessed both a commemoration of 50(+) years of hip hop and a realization that a luta continua (the struggle continues) against apartheid. 

It was banned at the time in South Africa, for violation of a law that prohibited music that would “upset white people.” A luta continua.

Apartheid is something we call it, because we don’t want to call it slavery. But it’s slavery. We should call it what it is .Slavery is slavery.” - Duke Bootee (from The Making of “Sun City”)

Released as a 12-inch single under the name Rap Against Apartheid, “Let Me See Your I.D.” united Gil and fellow rappers and musicians who vividly drew the links between apartheid in both South Africa and the United States. The title is a reference to the white minority regime’s notorious Black-only “pass book” system. As Gil pointedly points out, it was not and, to this day, never was unique to South Africa. A luta continua.  

In fact, read the verses below and imagine what you have to change to make them more contemporary. Very possibly, maybe not much. 

A luta continua.

Below are selections from the lyrics/ poetry with their vocalists noted in order of appearance. 

Musicians featured include: 

Miles Davis (trumpet)

Ray Barretto (congas)

Doug Wimbish (bass guitar)

DJ Cheese (scratching)

Jam Master Jay (scratching)

Sonny Okosun (talking drum)

BLT [BJ Nelson, Lottie Golden, & Tina B] (background vocals)

And now, some words from a masterpiece of hip hop and resistance music: 

Grandmaster Melle Mel

Everybody uses black and white

To try to draw the line between wrong and right 

But if you use your eyes to really see

You know we don’t see realistically 

…

To put a color on a skin

To me it’s a sin

That’s why apartheid must never win

We must put an end to this, my friend 

And it should it never be allowed to happen again 

…

Gil Scott-Heron

I was just watching the TV the other night

And who should appear but, you know,

Walter Concrete with the Blues

And it occurred to me how much of our vocabulary we seem to get from TV nowadays

Calling things whatever they call 'em, even if it’s collect

The first thing that occurred to me was like “Third World” you know like,

if you ask someone from here like, where is the *Third World*

They might say “Oh yeah, man, I know, I know, it's a disco.

You go about three blocks then take a left”

Or they might tell you the “Third World” is a new health food restaurant

I know the first time I heard there was trouble in the Middle East

I thought they was talking about Pittsburgh

The I.D.3 (Gil Scott-Heron, Robert Gordon, & Steve Walker)

Let me see your I.D.

Let me see your I.D.

… 

Duke Bootee

It’s the death

Some call it genocide

For that it is

Called apartheid

South Africa, starvation right here

Politicians and leaders living in fear

South Africa, from coast to coast

Colored people got the least, 

white people got the most

Gil Scott-Heron

The word “casualties” comes up a lot

In South Africa

They seem to make it feel like there’s a battle against - between “isms” going on

Between one good “ism” and one bad “ism”

But what they’re talking about is nightly

South Africans died, “casualties”

There were eight more “casualties” in South Africa

Nothing “casual” about dying

Nothing “casual” about standing for freedom

My grandmother used to say

“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll  go for anything”

We stand against apartheid

Stand against apartheid

The I.D. 3

Let me see your I.D

Let me see your I.D

…

Gil Scott-Heron

I had never met anyone from Southern Africa ’til I started going to school

I was going to Lincoln University down in Pennsylvania

There were South African refugee students there who

Many of them were athletes who started to compare experiences

And they were telling me that when you walk around in South Africa

You gotta carry this little black book with you

Tells everybody whether you’re supposed to be in a given area or not

Damn, that’s about like my life 

‘cause I got to do that when I go to Philly

The I.D.3

Let me see your I.D

Sonny Okosun

.. 

We all say

Free Mandela today

Kurtis Blow

There will be a time

When apartheid’s a crime

And the color factor won’t bother the mind

When majority rules against the fools

And all those who oppose will become uncool

I’m talkin’ ‘bout a place they call SUN CITY

Las Vegas in the desert

In a town without pity

South Africa

Yes, the motherland

There are no human rights for the Africans

‘Cause Sun City’s bright lights

Mow down their rights

And ain’t nothing else to do but stand up and fight

If I ruled the world and was king on the throne

I’d stop this mess in my street home

Gil Scott Heron

Just need to think about it

I ain’t going to Sun City

If-if somehow by the South African government

Sun City is described as though it’s somewhere else

Not connected to South Africa or apartheid

Like somebody in Manhattan trying to describe the Bronx to you as another country

As though it is no longer connected to New York

The I.D.3

Let me see your I.D

Big Youth

That it’s all in your conscious

It’s all in your minds

Let’s all lend a hand

To fight against apartheid

South Africa must be free

Equality and justice

The peoples’ liberty

So for no money

I will never play Sun City

Gil Scott-Heron

Other than that

I was watching TV again

And I seen this baller that’d been a representative of the American people over there in South Africa

Over there taking a ball for somebody

Somebody in here said, 

“Hey what about the separation between church and state?”

I said, “Especially ‘this’ church and ‘that’ state”

We stand against apartheid

Stand against apartheid

The I.D. 3

Let me see your I.D

Let me see your I.D

Peter Garrett

Yeah! 

Politicians take a stand 

By shaking your hand 

And then they hold you back 

As much as they can

They try to keep you weak

From gettin’ strong 

Because they know they then gonna 

Change what’s wrong 

…

The Fat Boys

We’re the Three Fat Boys

And we’re here to say

We’re gonna stop apartheid

In our own way

[beatboxing by Darren “Human Beat Box” Robinson)

…

Malopoets

Amandla ngawethu …

Ray Barretto

Libertad o muerte