In a world that is besieged by the inability to see our mutual humanity past our differences, Sandy Bota uses her upcoming hit single as a medium to bring people of different races together.
Sandy Bota is an accomplished vocal talent who uses her music to creatively deliver a message of unity that has been undermined, if not destroyed by divisive narratives in social networks and formal structures of human interaction. These structures are institutionalised in the various spheres of collective human existence – in communal spaces such as schools, beaches, shops and points of service delivery. We have succumbed to a myopic racialised view of each other that causes us to lose the opportunity to build a future that we have been tasked with the responsibility of delivering. This is the basis upon which Bota has created her campaign #White=Black, playing provocatively into the conversation that continues to divide despite the fear and fatigue that often accompanies notions of race
“As we continue to live in a painfully fractured, racialised society, I am using the release of my single, a love song entitled ‘Dancing to Your Song’ as a platform to create a diary of our country’s love journey-a love movement in which interracial relationships, be it family, lovers, friends, business partners, etc are embraced as orthodox and one.”
Bota’s intention is not to erase or devalue the real, lived experiences of black and white people due to apartheid, the effects thereof, and the failures of our society in addressing them. Rather, she is using her music as a medium of transcending the pain in order to have a reconciled understanding of each other in order to heal our wounds and celebrate our individual and communal selves.
Campaign #White=Black uses multimedia as vehicles of delivery; music, word, visuals, objects and social media messaging that will culminate in a song that is sure to touch all South African hearts and bring them together in a celebration of our freedom. #27April is her single release date, a love song which will mark the birth of new hope for South Africa’s racial standing moving forward. Bota plans to release a provoking music video framed around her single and the newly normalised topic of black and white, which will be released soon after the 27th of April.
The campaign was launched today on social media platforms. Hashtags to note are #White=Black, #DancingToYourSong and #27April.