From Soweto to Harlem, an Unbroken Thread of Resistance

Fifty years after the Soweto Uprising, hundreds of Harlem high school students gathered to watch Sarafina!, the film that introduced generations of people around the world to the courage, anger, and determination of South Africa’s youth during apartheid.

The screening, part of Soweto 50: We R the Future, was presented by Harlem Stage in partnership with New Heritage Theatre Group and brought the story of June 16, 1976, to A. Philip Randolph High School in Harlem, New York. But the event was about more than remembering history. It was a reminder of the role Harlem and Black America played in carrying South Africa’s freedom struggle far beyond its borders.

The connection between Soweto and Harlem stretches back decades.

During apartheid, African American activists, artists, musicians, and cultural leaders helped keep international attention on South Africa at a time when the country was increasingly isolated from the rest of the world. Figures such as the late singer and actor Harry Belafonte used their platforms to support the anti-apartheid movement, while communities across Harlem and the rest of Black America became important centers of solidarity with South Africans fighting for freedom.

That history was reflected throughout the program yesterday, Tuesday, June 16.

Before the screening, students heard from a panel moderated by Harlem Stage featuring Sarafina! star Leleti Khumalo and South African performers Pearl Khwezi and Mdu Madela, who currently play Nala and Simba in Broadway’s The Lion King.

For Khumalo, whose portrayal of Sarafina made her an international symbol of South African youth resistance, the event was another chapter in a story that has connected South Africa and African American artists for generations.

“As a young person growing up in South Africa, [June 16] made me learn that I have a lot of power in the things that go on around me. Regardless of what the systems may be, we are not powerless; we have our own responsibility to take our future for ourselves as young people, and not just wait for it to be given to us,” Khwezi told OkayAfrica. 

The Lion King performers also treated students to a stunning rendition of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” drawing a direct line between South African talent on Broadway today and the generations of artists who helped bring South African stories to American audiences.

No figure represents that connection more than theater producer Voza Rivers.

As executive producer of New Heritage Theatre Group, Rivers helped bring South African theater to American audiences long before apartheid ended. His production of Sarafina! introduced the story of the Soweto Uprising to Broadway audiences in the late 1980s, transforming a South African story into a global one.

That cultural exchange helped ensure that the struggle against apartheid remained visible far from South Africa’s borders.

The biggest surprise of the afternoon came midway through the screening when actress, comedian, and television host Whoopi Goldberg walked onto the stage to thunderous applause from students.

Goldberg, who played the teacher Miss Masembuko in Sarafina!, spoke directly to the students about the film and its themes. “I’m just here to remind y’all that, however old you are, now is the time to start paying attention,” she said.  Her appearance served as another reminder of how African American artists helped amplify South African voices during the anti-apartheid era.

For many students in the audience, the film’s story may have felt distant. Most were born decades after apartheid ended. Yet they were close in age to the students who marched through the streets of Soweto in 1976, demanding dignity, equality, and a better education.

That parallel was one of the central messages of the day.

The students who led the Soweto Uprising were teenagers. They challenged one of the world's most powerful and brutal governments and helped change the course of South African history.

Fifty years later, their story continues to resonate far beyond South Africa.

Holding a Soweto commemoration in Harlem is not a coincidence. It is an acknowledgment of a relationship built through activism, music, theater, and a shared belief that the fight for freedom in one part of the world belongs to all of us.

From Soweto to Harlem, the thread remains unbroken.