Magazine
While blackness, as an imposed reality, that creates a certain field around the subject, has come to be acknowledged as such, little has been done to problematise intersubjective relations between black people.
Poet Makhafula Vilakazi is tired of living in the shadow of Shakespearean poetry. Born Matodzi Ramashia in Chiawelo, Soweto, Makhafula has created a brand of poetry that sees him delivering his rap inspired lyrics in township slang.”
Nomaza was the kind of woman every wife on the street resented. Her honey skin reminded other women that their dark skin would never make men stop mid-sentence when they passed.
As a matter of fact, it was Khaya’s political activity that landed Biko in trouble when the two were arrested at school and detained. I recall how Bra Bisto, as Khaya was known, related to us as AZASCO members in 1995 how happy he was when Biko was arrested. This was because Biko was indifferent to political activity until that arrest.
How voice breaks to awaken new dawns and people / Between us is love / Between us is hate / Between us is misconception / Between us is reaching / Between us is tired / Between us is peaking still
For starters ‘South Africa’s history, precedes the fifteenth century. Details of the latter will be herein omitted because their superfluous for this paper’s core interest, of founding incidents that led to origins of ‘South Africa’. Conflicts birthed ‘South Africa’, dating back (as paraphrased from South Africa’s then deputy President Thabo Mbeki’s ode, to his predecessor) to the “first moment of black anti-colonial struggle” (Johnson, 2009:123) in the Battle of Salt River on 1st March 1510 .
It is my prediction that in the next few generations of youth, conditions for a true revolution will ripen and this charge will be led by you.
Yes, even in these lands native to their forebears, where the settler colonists and their errand runners imagine that a dubious peace can hold in the midst of unending Black misery, these eloquent and unflinching voices find their purpose and beauty through clear visions that scythe through carefully curated webs of lies.
Makunyiwe Macala!* This is a Xhosa term that is said during times of battle where we take matters into our hands. In English one might use the term ‘tit for tat’ / ‘butter for fat’. In this issue, we would like to tap into that spirit of defiance and rebellion.
WordUP Tape 2 Mixed [Styled] Curated by The Dala What You Must Mantra-ist, King Keep It Real Boutique The First. The Spirit Of Sheveza Current Is Present With Township Spirituals.
South Africa’s racial inequality is well known and often titled with the first prize of being the most unequal society in the world, where the largely black poor are getting poorer by the day and the mostly white rich are getting richer by the day. Add to that a democratically elected Black government that has failed to put together plans to lift Black people out of the shame of poverty and into the dignity of economic participation, and you have yourself a perfect ticking time bomb waiting for a slight trigger to explode.
For over 30 years, Detroit musicians Tbone Paxton and RJ Spangler have been exploring the beauty of South African jazz in their various, award-winning projects.
