- What does protest sound like?

(audience chanting) (band music) - Black lives matter!

- In the '60s and '70s, about 7,000 miles apart, two fights for Black liberation were creating that very sound.

From South Africans standing up against apartheid to Americans standing up to segregation and discrimination.

But there was one song that helped to inspire both fights and connect these movements under one voice.

(folk music) ♪ I shall be released ♪ - How did a Bob Dylan song that didn't even crack the top 40 become a rallying cry for two movements oceans apart?

It all starts with Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone, and Bob Dylan working their magic in Greenwich Village in 1967.

Have you heard this viral TikTok sound?

(upbeat music) You might not know it's about Miriam Makeba, one of the pioneers of the world music genre, music that includes a variety of different sounds from around the world.

(vocalist singing indistinctly) Makeba's music brought African sounds like the Afro pop hit "Pata Pata" to the global stage, earning her the nickname Mama Africa.

(vocalist singing indistinctly) I got a chance to speak with Brendon Adams.

- What up, what up?

- [Arthur] The director of South African choral group 29:11 about the importance of Makeba and her music.

- "Pata Pata" is a song that she wrote during the time of apartheid.

It's also a sound of freedom.

It's a happy song, which simply means to move.

Tats, tats.

Pata pata, tats, tats.

- [Arthur] But her music was doing more than just making people dance.

Makeba was also deeply involved in the South African anti-apartheid movement.

- [Anchor] Thousands gather outside a police station in protest against new laws requiring every African to carry a pass at all times.

- [Arthur] Apartheid was the racial segregation of South Africa.

With its racial designations determining where one could work, live, and go to school.

This also included the white governments forced removal of Black South Africans from their homes, denying their ability to vote in elections, and brutally enforcing these laws on the street.

Even though Makeba stated, "What I sing is not politics, it's the truth," the truth was political, drawing the ire of the apartheid government.

- That's a dance that's used as a weapon.

The apartheid government didn't like those type of things.

- With her global touring, Makeba's popularity would lead to an increase in awareness of the anti-apartheid movement.

Like in this performance from 1966.

♪ They see police cars coming to raid their homes ♪ ♪ For one thing or another ♪ - When she tried to return to South Africa for her mother's funeral, she was denied entry and would not be allowed back for 30 years.

Exiled in the US during the '60s, her music connected her with other artists and activists whose music was deeply entwined with political activism.

From that New York music scene, a song would emerge that would capture, for many, the tone of the era.

"I Shall Be Released," written by Bob Dylan in 1967, was released by The Band the following year.

♪ I shall be released ♪ - It struck a chord with many musicians, including Makeba, saying, "I decided I would try to sing it too.

I was afraid, because after all he was a big star.

I can try to sing it my way, with my own little accent."

♪ Any day now ♪ ♪ I shall be released ♪ - In doing so, Makeba would put her name alongside some of the biggest in music.

"I Shall Be Released" became a popular cover song for some of the country's most famous acts.

From Big Mama Thornton- ♪ Big Mama will be released ♪ - [Arthur] To Elvis himself.

♪ I shall be released ♪ ♪ I shall be released ♪ ♪ I shall be released ♪ ♪ I shall be released ♪ ♪ I shall be released ♪ - I shall be released resonated widely for the way it could be understood both literally and metaphorically.

Its plain spoken lyrics spoke to a nation, who, despite being segregated, could connect on a human level with the feelings of being stuck and seeking release.

That message would also resonate with Nina Simone.

One night in Paris, Simone heard Makeba sing the song and said she had to sing it too.

- Last night, Miss Makeba and her group did this song and we have to do it again tonight, because it's a great song.

It's called 'I Shall Be Released.'"

Simone, like Makeba, was no stranger to the struggle and using music as an avenue for protest.

In 1964, she had released "Mississippi Goddam," a powerful statement against the violence happening in the South.

♪ Everybody knows about Mississippi goddam ♪ - Simone's version of "I Shall Be Released," moved with a langer of the blues, firmly rooting it in Black American musical traditions.

Her singing was a blend of sorrow and strength.

♪ Any day now ♪ ♪ Any day now ♪ ♪ I shall be released ♪ - In contrast to Makeba's version, which is sung with a smile you can hear.

♪ Any day now ♪ ♪ Any day now ♪ ♪ I shall be released ♪ - What are some of the characteristics of South African music, or what is the South Africa sound like?

- It's a happy sound.

You can hear that it's a deep sound that comes from a place of hurt, but people turn it into happiness.

- But while these versions differ slightly in their delivery, the song itself carries with it a common ancestry.

Like much of Dylan's music, the song pulls from the Black folk traditions.

The gentle sway of its groove with the guitar and harmonica, beginning with a lone mournful voice.

♪ They say every man must need protection ♪ ♪ I run to the camp ♪ ♪ And tell my brother, Bill ♪ - [Arthur] Makeba's version of this folk song, like most resistance music at the time, would be banned by the South African government.

But that wouldn't stop it from making an impact.

Makeba's version would play alongside other banned music on the illegal pirate radio station, "Radio Freedom."

- In both countries, we used our voices when our people got murdered and killed.

And even then, they used so much peace.

Their fight was their voices and their march.

- Music played a powerful role in both the US Civil Rights and South African anti-apartheid movements.

It allowed resistance to persist in everyday spaces.

For Black South Africans, the tradition of collective singing is woven into the cultural fabric, and during the struggle, it accompanied every occasion from political triumphs to funerals.

Some of these songs had their roots in gospel choral and native South African traditions.

(group singing indistinctly) Songs had potent slogans like (speaks foreign language) "God Bless Africa."

They would be sung repeatedly in call and response patterns.

(group singing in foreign language) Likewise, the civil rights movement, dubbed "The Singing Movement," adopted the same gospel hymn tenor.

Like the anti-apartheid struggle, they frequently adapted spiritual songs to reflect their struggles with hopes of renewal.

Songs like "We Shall Overcome" would carry at once the sorrow of a lament and the strength of defiance.

♪ We will overcome someday ♪ - I think that when you're in exile, you're in exile.

Whether famous or not, exile is painful.

- Makeba continued to lobby across the globe for the liberation of her people.

In 1990, the system of apartheid was on its last legs.

Nelson Mandela was freed.

And after 30 years, Makeba was finally able to return home.

It is at this moment that she returns to the song.

This time joined with Simone.

The song had come full circle.

♪ Any day now ♪ ♪ Any way now ♪ ♪ I shall be released ♪ - This was the fullest version of the song.

The version that feels triumphant, pulling in the most South African influence.

She blended it with the South African hymn "Thulasizwe."

(group singing in foreign language) "Thulasizwe" roughly translates to "Hush Nation."

- Thulasizwe.

Let's not scream.

Our silence is volume.

You're not what they say.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- You know, our silence is volume.

- Makeba would say of this final rendition of the song, "We were bringing two worlds together.

South Africa and the United States, both music and artists, in that Nina Simone was also singing it with me."

(light upbeat music)