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" I'm very interested in heritage restoration, and I'm working with a group of people to create a number of academies and performance spaces to encourage native arts and crafts and to explore African history. "

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" I don't criticise anybody, but I just don't understand religion. Like I don't understand nationalism. These are the two things that cause wars. I don't understand why they are supposed to be good things. "

Hugh Masekela

Good Things

Religion

Understand

" Twenty years ago, I was part of a movement of millions of people who were going after freedom. But today, they look and they say, 'What are the advantages of freedom?' So far, it's the vote and maybe, in certain places, lack of police harassment. You can live anywhere you want and do anything you want - if you have the means. "

" If I don't make heritage visible and the strength of mother tongue important for my grandchildren, it scares me that they might say in 20 years from now, 'Well, it is rumoured that we used to be Africans long ago.' And in many urban areas, it's already happening. "

" I have a major respect for nature. I'm an environmentalist. "

" Not only in Africa but in much of the world, most leaders' pockets are lined by industrial business. And industrial business is never going to stop aiming at profit. "

" To tell you the truth, man, we spend most of the time travelling in hotels, in festivals, in concert halls, clubs, airports. The most unenjoyable part is all the security at airports. "

" I lived for music since I could think. "

" I think the most difficult thing that has had to happen in South Africa for the previously disadvantaged communities is they had to reconcile that the oppressor has been enriched and the establishment is now making five or 10 times more profit than they were during the time the economic embargo was on them. "

" In some townships, political parties are run by thugs financed from Cape Town. If we don't have support of the police, we can not have the ability to organize and to gain even a slight semblance of power. "

" The apartheid people were actors, and they had to act out their part in their beliefs every day. That's why we always saw them as being comedic. "

" I live a very enjoyable life. I understand what moderation is. "

" When I left South Africa in 1960 I was 20 years old. I wanted to try to get an education, and music education was not available for me in South Africa. "

Hugh Masekela

Africa

Education

" Corruption is everywhere, man. "

" I'm travelling more than ever. I don't have the answer as to why, but the demand seems to have grown as I've got older. "

Hugh Masekela

Older

Got

" I think it is incumbent on all human beings to oppose injustice in every form. "

" I couldn't get away from the gramophone. It was the only thing that I ever really liked, and I was singing along by the time I was five years old - to the Modernaires and Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. "

" In my view, Africa's real problems are cultural. "

" When people campaign for positions, they promise people all kinds of things. "

" Mandela was chosen as a symbol of the South African struggle, and he did that great. But I wasn't just happy for him. I was happy for the people. "

Hugh Masekela

Great

Happy

" I've got to where am in life not because of something I brought to the world but through something I found - the wealth of African culture. "

" I started playing the piano when I was 6 years old 'cause my folks tried to get me away from the gramophone. And I just - I lived for music since I could think. And they got me piano lessons. So by the time I was 13, I was quite an accomplished piano player and musician. "

" When I left South Africa there were 10 million people - when I came back there were more than 40 million. I had to learn how to get to the highways because when I left where there were no highways. "

" For me to want to play the trumpet was a very, very odd thing for my clan as a whole. One of my uncles was a high school principal, and he referred to my trumpet as a bugle, which really hurt me. "

" It's obvious that the rest of the world loves high African culture - African culture, period. "

" Watching a Kirk Douglas movie, 'Young Man With A Horn,' made me want to be a trumpet player. "

" Whatever you go into, you have to go in there to be the best. There's no formulas. It's all about passion and honesty and hard work. It might look glamorous, but it takes a lot of hard work. The blessing with the arts is that you can do it forever. "

" I'm not a Christian. My participation in music is so full blast, 24 hours a day. And that's my religion. I think I'm as spiritual as the pope, because I spend as much time in my spirituality as he does. "

" Africa has been troubled for a long time - well, the world has been troubled ever since I was born. "

" I've always stood on one fact - that all over the world, there are only two things, the Establishment and the poor people. The poor people are a massive majority and across the world they are exploited in different kinds of ways. The Establishment depends on exploiting raw materials and the poor. "

" I grew up with protests, marches, demonstrations, struggle. But I come from a clan of community workers. "

Hugh Masekela

Community

Come