Still in Chains

While most countries have manged to shrug off the shackles of colonialism over the years, large parts of the world remain under the thumb and it looks like new ones are being added to the toll.

One wonders at a world where a "democracy" like the US and its "democratic" allies still maintain troops in Japan, the Philippines, South Kora and other places. Let us not even begin talking of the fact that peoples as a whole are entirely subjugated: the Red Indians, the original peoples of Canada, Australia and New Zealand to name a few.

Will it end in this century or will we continue to put up with this until we forget that we ever enjoyed another type of life?

Goodbye Bafana, Gandhi, My Father and Sione's Wedding

What do these three films have in common?

The first one which documents how Mandela became the most inspirational political figure of the modern world, poses the questions: Who is the prisoner? And who sets whom free?

The second centres on the stormy relationship between Gandhi and his eldest son.

Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela both used non-violent protests to liberate their countries-the first from the British and the second from Apartheid.

Another link between the two films is the fact that it is said that Nelson Mandela was deeply moved by Gandhi my Father.

And what about the last film?
Well, Sione's Wedding is the first Samoan New Zealanders.

So why do I put them together?

Well, I started surfing the net to find out more about Samoa and found that they managed to gain their freedom through non-violent protests!

In the early 1920s, the Western Samoans began a campaign known as the Mau ("Strongly held Opinion"), a non-violent popular movement to protest the mistreatment of the Samoan people by the New Zealand administration.