- Drum (magazine)
"Drum" is a
South Africa n family magazine mainly aimed at Black readers and contains market news, entertainment and feature articles. It has two sister magazines: "Huisgenoot " (aimed at White and Coloured Afrikaans-speaking readers) and "YOU " (aimed at White English-speaking readers)."Drum" was started in
1951 by Jim Bailey (James R. A. Bailey), an ex-R.A.F. pilot who was the son of the late Sir Abe Bailey a South African financier. He picked a friend whom he had known at Oxford,Anthony Sampson as editor. LaterSir Tom Hopkinson was the editor.Sylvester Stein edited the magazine from1955 until1958 . The deteriorating political situation resulted in him leaving for England. He was a white South AfricanJew which resulted in an empathy for his journalist's frustrations. His book "Who killed Mr Drum?" describes the life and times of "Drum" magazine."Drum"'s heyday in the
1950s fell between theDefiance Campaign and the tragedy atSharpeville . This was the decade of potential Black emergence, the decade when theFreedom Charter was written and the decade when the ANC alliance launched the Defiance Campaign. The aim was to promote an equal society. The Nationalist government responded with apartheid crackdowns and treason trials.It was also the decade of the movement to the cities, of
Sophiatown , of Black jazz, the jazz opera "King Kong" with a Black cast, an adoption of American culture, of "shebeens" (illegal drinking dens) and flamboyant American style gangsters ("tsotsis") with chrome-laden American cars who spoke a slang calledTsotsitaal .It was a time of optimism and hope. "Drum" was a "record of naivety, optimism, frustration, defiance, courage, dancing, drink, jazz, gangsters, exile and death".
"Drum" described the world of the urban Black; the culture, the colour, dreams, ambitions, hopes and struggles. Lewis Nkosi described Drum's young writers as "the new
Africa n [s] cut adrift from the tribal reserve - urbanised, eager, fast-talking and brash."cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Lewis Nkosi | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.answers.com/topic/lewis-nkosi | work =answers.com | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = ]Peter Magubane described the atmosphere in the newsroom. "Drum" was a different home; it did not have apartheid. There was no discrimination in the offices of "Drum" magazine. It was only when you left "Drum" and entered the world outside of the main door that you knew you were in apartheid land. But while you were inside "Drum" magazine, everyone there was a family." cite news | first=Peter | last=Barlow | coauthors= | title=To the point with Peter Magubane | date=2006-08-14 | publisher=Rhodes University | url =http://ruactivate.wordpress.com/2006/08/14/to-the-point-with-peter-magubane/ | work =Activate | pages = | accessdate = 2007-05-03 | language = ]Drum's stellar cast of Black journalists included such names as Henry (Mr Drum) Nxumalo,
Can Themba ,Todd Matshikiza ,Nat Nakasa ,Lewis Nkosi and others such as William Bloke Modisane,Arthur Maimane , andCasey Motsisi . Together, they were known as the "Drum Boys". This group lived by the dictum "live fast, die young and have a good-looking corpse". cite book |author=Mike Nicol |title=A good-looking corpse |publisher=Secker & Warburg |location=London |year=1991 |pages= |isbn=0-43-630986-6 |oclc= |doi=] Most of these journalists went on to publish works in their own right. [Can Themba wrote "The Suit" and a selection of his output appears in "The world of Can Themba", a selection ofNat Nakasa 's output appears in "The World of Nat Nakasa",Lewis Nkosi wrote "Home and Exile" and "Mating Birds" among others,Bloke Modisane wrote "Blame me on history ",Arthur Maimane wrote "Hate No More" and a selection ofCasey Motsisi 's output appears in "Casey & Co ". Refer to the individual entries for the ISBN numbers.] The other journalists who worked there includeBessie Head [Almost all of Head's important work was written inSerowe , in particular, the three Serowe novels "When Rain Clouds Gather", "Maru", and "A Question of Power". She also wrote short stories, including the collection "The Collector of Treasures".] ,Lionel Ngakane [Ngakane is most remembered for his 1966 short film "Jemima and Johnny" inspired by riots in Notting Hill.] andJenny Joseph . [Joseph's best known poem, "Warning", was written in 1961 and was included in her 1974 collection "Rose In the Afternoon" and in the "Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse ".]It wasn’t only the writers – the pictures were also important. The main photographer and artistic director was
Jürgen Schadeberg who arrived in South Africa in 1950 after leaving a war ravaged Berlin. He became one of the rare European photographers to photograph the daily lives of Black people. He trained a generation of rising black photographers, includingErnest Cole ,Bob Gosani and laterPeter Magubane . Magubane joined "Drum" because "they were dealing with social issues that affected black people in South Africa. I wanted to be part of that magazine". cite news | first=John | last=Cook | coauthors= | title=One-Man Truth Squad | date=1997-06-01 | publisher= | url =http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/1997/05/truth.html | work =Mother Jones | pages = | accessdate = 2007-05-02 | language = ]Alf Khumalo was another well-known photographer on the staff.Henry Nxumalo was the first journalist and specialised in investigative reporting. For example, he got a job on a potato farm where he exposed the exploitative conditions (almost slave-like) under which the Black labourers worked. In
1957 , Nxumalo was murdered while investigating an abortion racket. cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Henry "Mr Drum" Nxumalo (1917 - 1957) | date=29 September 2005 | publisher= | url =http://www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/orders/2005/nxumalo.htm | work =National Orders awards | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-27 | language = ]Todd Matshikiza wrote witty and informed jazz articles about the burgeoning township jazz scene.
Dolly (the agony aunt) helped many a confused, young lover to get their lives back on course. The "Dear Dolly" letters were written by
Dolly Rathebe , a popular actress, pin-up and singer. In reality, they were ghosted by other "Drum" writes, notablyCasey Motsisi .Arthur Maimane, under the pseudonym "Arthur Mogale" wrote a regular series entitled "The Chief" where he described gangster incidents he had heard about in the
shebeen s.Don Mattera , a leadingSophiatown gangstertook exception to this. "The gangsters were pissed off with him and there was a word out that we should wipe this guy off."The office telephonist,
David Sibeko , became leader of thePan-African Congress .cite news | first=Denis | last=Herbstein | coauthors= | title=Arthur Maimane | date=2005-07-15 | publisher= | url =http://www.guardian.co.uk/southafrica/story/0,,1528877,00.html | work =Guardian | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = ]"Drum" also encouraged fiction.
Es'kia Mphahlele (the fiction editor from1955 to1957 ) encouraged and guided this. During that time over 90 short stories were published by such authors asTodd Matshikiza ,Bloke Modisane ,Henry Nxumalo ,Casey Motsisi , Arthur Maimane (alias Mogale),Lewis Nkosi ,Nat Nakasa ,Can Themba and others. These stories described the people of the street; jazz musicians, gangsters,shebeen queens and con men and were written in a uniquely Sophiatown-influenced blend of English andTsotsitaal . This creative period has been called the "Sophiatown renaissance".cite news | first=Ntongela | last=Masilela | coauthors= University of California | title=Black South African literature from the ‘Sophiatown Renaissance' to ‘Black Mamba Rising': Transformations and Variations from the 1950s to the 1980s | date=1990-04-30 | publisher= | url =http://www.pitzer.edu/new_african_movement/general/essays/nxumalo.htm | work =Center for Black Studies | pages = | accessdate = 2007-03-05 | language = ]The backbone of the magazine was crime, investigative reporting, sex (especially if across the colour line) and sport. This was fleshed out by imaginative photography.
The formula worked and made for compulsive reading. Each issue of "Drum" was read by up to 9 people, passed from hand to hand on the streets, in the clubs or on the trains. It became a symbol of Black urban life. 240,000 copies were distributed each month across Africa. cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Drum Beat in Africa | date=1959-09-07 | publisher=Time magazine | url =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,825925-1,00.html | work =Time | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-28 | language = ] This was more than any other African magazine.
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