The Lion Sleeps Tonight

BY: BRITTNEY CHANNER 

When one thinks of social justice, the regular occurrence of topics relating to racism, sexism, police brutality, inequality, just to name a few, are usually the pinnacle of discussion. Since we live in a society where these topics continue to arise through the proliferation of negative interactions amongst individuals within society, I do acknowledge how the idea of social justice can be exhausting and desensitizing. However, please be aware that injustices occur everywhere, not just within traditional and closely related topics as stipulated above.

This week as I was thinking of what social justice concept to write about, I immediately realized the idea was there right in front of me, literally. What I mean by this is that the idea of what social justice issue to write about came to me in class as my professor discussed how the popularity of something as small as a song, resulted in the unjust treatment of a Zulu tribesman named Solomon Linda and his entire family.

Solomon Linda was a Zulu tribesman who had a gift of music and a voice that he shared with the world through generations. One day in 1939, for the first time, Mr. Linda stood in front of a microphone in the only recording studio in Africa when he created a skein of 15 melodic notes which would become a huge hit that would impact the world. At this point, many of you may be looking at Mr. Linda’s name without an idea in the world of who he is and what song I claim to think you know; however, if I asked you to name the first song that came to your mind when I mentioned the movie “The Lion King”, 90% of you would mention the song “In The Jungle”.

“In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight”. Did I jog your memory? Well, you may be asking how this story contributes or has anything to do with social justice but, it does in many ways. Peete Seeger was an American folk singer who was introduced to “In the Jungle” or back then known as “Mbube” by Alan Lomax who had received a package of 78s flat disc records from a record company in Africa with hopes that someone would want to release the song in America. Nevertheless, what makes this story so unfortunate is that Mr. Linda, the originator of this song, received no credit whatsoever; especially within the realm of royalties from his creation.

This song was passed through a plethora of musical artists such as Peete Seeger, The Weavers, The Tokens, R.E.M and the very familiar version seen in Disney’s The Lion King. From the year 1948 till now, “In the Jungle” has spawned a number of versions in different languages and passed through the hands of musical greats and as powerful and transcending this may be to some, this situation tells the all too familiar story of a black man who according to Rian Malan, gave more than he got and ended up with nothing.

This one song produced 160 recordings of three different versions, thirteen movies, half a dozen TV commercials and a hit play which brings in an estimated value of 15-20 million dollars; possibly more and somehow Mr. Linda’s share valued to one $12,000 payment from The Richmond Organization, a $1,000 cheque from Pete Seeger and any future payments in relation to the song and 12.5% of royalties which amounts to $275 dollars a quarter. Please note these are figures based in the 1990s.

On October 8^th, 1962, Mr. Linda passed away without ever realizing the impact his song had on the world. Meanwhile, while the growing success of his creation, his daughters were living in poverty in a house made solely of bricks with no ceiling and other harsh living conditions without realizing they potentially were the rightful owners of a song their father created before they were born. However, due to unequal and unfair copyright practices of the ’50s and ’60s, Mr. Linda’s daughters were not legally entitled to a heavier share of the royalties made off of their father’s song.

Although there are more details and facts that would essentially help you understand how upsetting this situation really is, what can be taken away from this entire story is that injustice happens in many facets of society, especially within the entertainment industry. Of course, there are many laws in place now that prevents this type of exploitation however, it is necessary to understand injustice through a historical lens which can potentially provide insight on why social injustice happens and where change needs to be implemented.

For more information on Mr. Linda and his story, feel free to read the 36-page excerpt of “In the Jungle” by Rian Malan.