The POWA Mixtape

fisttap @telamigo

South African hip hop guru, Tumi from Tumi and the Volume has finally dropped the video for the remix of Kanye West's Power he did last November. (See this previous blogpost for lyrics and background story). He's also dropped a mixtape in collaboration with a whole host of South African-based artists speaking out against sex and  gender-based violence. Some notable names are: Zaki Ibrahim, Ben Sharpa, Zubz and Proverb. The tape opens with some very depressing stats on rape in South Africa. Apparently "every 26 minutes a woman is raped and the majority think its okay."  In between the tracks Akhona Ndungane narrates her story of how she was raped. 

I wish I could just say how sick the rock throwback on Crush Boy was and go on about how dope tracks like What We Seek and Another Summer Without Sun are and how so and so kills it on this and that track. Because they do. All that and more, even, but the beats are overpowered by the graphic story of Akhona's rape sandwiched in between each track. Listeners cannot escape that. 

And that's a good thing. 

Salut & thank you Akhona for your courage in speaking out.

 It's called the POWA mixtape -POWA - People Opposed to Women's Abuse. 

Get your download here.

In DOPE Music We Trust

Ending Sudan's Identity Crisis

Sudanese blogger, Amir Ahmad, had an op-ed on CiF last Friday on Sudan's identity politics and this is an excerpt from a longer and thought-provoking piece.

pic jacked from the internetz

Since a year before its independence in 1956, Sudan has witnessed terrible violence and bloodshed, which continues to this day. The reasons for this are numerous and complex, but one key culprit has always been our Afro-Arab identity crisis, which doesn't seem to have any near end in sight. 

Contrary to what many northern Sudanese may like to believe, the secession and independence of the south is not going to end the identity crisis, and it's certainly not going to magically turn the country into a genuinely Arab Islamic nation-state despite what Omar al-Bashir may want. 

It won't happen, not even by force, due to the simple fact that Sudan always has been and always will be a multi-ethnic, multi-religious melting pot. Multi-ethnic given its minorities and various dominant Arab, Afro-Arab and African tribes, and multi-religious given its diverse population of Muslims, Christians and animists. 

The question is: will we eventually have a democratic government that actually recognises and respects our diversity? Or will we continue to have an Islamist Afro-Arab regime, largely in denial of its "Africanness", which forcefully seeks to impose its self-serving interpretation of Islamic law and confused Arab identity on the rest of us? 

...We're Afro-Arab in three main ways, simplified as follows: 

1. Ethnically as well as culturally Afro-Arab2. Ethnically Afro-Arab but culturally predominantly Arab (the majority)3. Ethnically African but culturally predominantly Arab and hence "Arabised"  

Nevertheless, our attitudes don't really honour this reality. Yes, there are many of us who value our combined Afro-Arab heritage and self-identify, either as Afro-Arabs or just as Sudanese. There are also many who identify primarily as Arab or African for valid reasons that depend on which side of their cultural and ethnic heritage weighs more heavily. 

However, there are too many who reject their "Africanness" or "Arabness", with a few in both camps condescendingly and outspokenly showing disrespect for that aspect of themselves which they reject. Then there are those who don't reject, but rather gently distance themselves from their "Africanness" or "Arabness" – consciously or subconsciously.

TwoCents: I think the discussion extends to other parts of Africa - what does it mean be African, what does it mean to be Arab, and an Arab African or African Arab? And who defines what the dominant meanings of Arabness and Africanness is, what's the political relation and power balance? These are all contested and continually evolving identities and this is something Arab Africans and Africans (in all their diversities and colors), alike, need to have multiple, frank, cross-generational discussions about. 

I'm New Here

R.I.P 
Gill Scott Heron 1949-2011
jacked from: Guardian

Sunday Music

fisttap AfricasACountry

Michael Kiwanuka is a 23 year old singer from London of Ugandan origins and this is he has mastered the art of representing vintage sound in contemporary times. Longing for days gone by when when R n B was still rhythm n blues, Kiwanuka channels a 60s / 70s sound comparable to Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding etc. Likewise, the video manages recreate the past  - save for the hoodies and pay-phone - this could pass for an old school video. Kiwanuka has opened for Adele, but he's still very much an underground artist the whole world needs to hear (and Liam Bailey too). He's due to release his debut EP on the 7th of June.

For the River

This song by Ghanaian artist, Wanlov the Kubolor, is part of a clean water campaign begun by the artist in a bid to tackle pollution in Ghana. Here he sings about the problems faced when rivers carry the Ebola virus or are polluted with toxic chemical or electronic waste. This song is inspired by Bathe in the River by New Zealander, Hollie Smith, a big soulful tune which spent 22 weeks in New Zealand's top ten singles charts in 2006. Wanlov's video has been chosen to headline the Environmental Film Festival of Accra from June 7 to 19. For those in Europe, look out for Wanlov in your city when he goes on tour later this June. Some of the scheduled concert dates are: 3 June Würzburg, 5 June Rome, 7 June London, 10 June Iaşi and 12 June Angoulême. Follow him on twitter (@wanlov) for more info.

Also, worth reading is the article in Arise Magazine in which they speak to Wanlov about his pidgin rapping and social consciousness.
About his activism he says:

“I’d say I’m a social-consciousness rapper, but that’s so restrictive because then I go and do a song about some lady’s ass. I like to clown. I sometimes reflect on bad things that are going on but I don’t do foreboding.


...Last year I did a barefooted walk against poverty. A human-rights group asked if I would lead the procession. At that time some major oil contracts were being signed so we were doing the walk to raise awareness about how things went down in Nigeria.


...When I write, things that bother me – slums, sanitation, wars, climate – come out too. My second album was soccer-themed but there were messages. At that time there were many scandals going on; a minister had taken government funds and thrown a party. For people who know what’s going on politically, the cover sleeve is interesting [because it’s a cartoon satire of current scandals].


I’m more into the environment. Pollution bothers me. And I don’t like seeing villages all branded. The whole country is branded in mobile phone colours. Every roundabout or monument is branded by some company. “Pidgin slang is the language that everyone from the shoe-shine boy to the vice president uses with their friends. With pidgin, people start picking out stronger terms, words that sound cooler, and they keep building. 

For some reason there is this inferiority complex where people want to hide their language. I feel it is important that people are comfortable in their skin and environment, because otherwise everybody will become the same. Things will become bland.

I’m being courted by the World Bank. People say the World Bank is strangling Africa and so on, but we strangle ourselves most of the time. If that money is appropriated correctly, it will make things happen.”

Liberate Tate Shames BP

From Liberal Conspiracy: 

Yesterday at the Tate Britain [gallery in London], Liberate Tate (website) staged another of its headline-grabbing performative protests in the Duveens Hall of Tate Britain. A naked man lay down in the foetal position while several veiled figures covered him in an oil-like substance. The performance lasted for 87 minutes to commemorate the 87 days over which oil was spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, beginning exactly one year ago today.

According to the Telegraph: BP spends over £1m per year sponsoring the Tate Britain, the British Museum, the Royal Opera House and the National Portrait Gallery.

*** 

If the London School of Economics could be shamed into cutting ties with the Gaddaffi regime, then the same should apply to the Tate and BP- not just for environmental reasons but for political reasons too. Unsurprisingly it has big stakes in Libya. Up to $900m (£545m) worth of initial investment deals was facilitated by Tony Blair when he renewed British relations with the Brotherly Leader of the Arab Jamaharihya. BP also promised to invest up to £20 billion over the next 20 years, in 2009, at a time when 200 Nigerians were on death row in Libya for immigration offences (and later released after diplomatic intervention by the Nigerian government) while Libyan citizens faced persecution or repression for various acts of civil disobedience.


Following the Brotherly Leader's threat to nationalize all the oil fields, its in Britain and BP's interests to ensure the Libyan revolutionaries topple Gaddaffi. But can the Tate, as a site that hosts creative expressions of cultural and political resistance in Britain and the world (like Ai WeiWei), really be associated with a corporation that operates on a profits before all else policy?


(As for the British Museum, well its a place that harbors stolen items so more than just cutting ties with BP, it needs to return the stolen goods, like the Rosetta Stone, on which the museum markets itself as a repository of 'world history'.)

copyright Immo Klink

see more pics here.

The King Had A Dream

 Things I've Done by NattyMusic

Like country music meets reggae meets indie, this is Natty. (a guy most Londoners on the underground scene will know bec of the song ColdTown) Born Alexander Alekio Modiano to a mother from Lesotho and an English dad in San Francisco. Aged one he moved to (north) London where he grew up around African and British musical and cultural influences. According to the bio on his website (nattymusic.com), he had the privilege of working with Mos Def, Queen and Razorlight - before releasing his own mixtape for sale. In 2007 he got signed by Atlantic records and performed at the iTunes Festival. Since then Natty's achieved chart success in the UK, Japan and Jamaica as well and has collaborated with the likes of Roots Manuva and Baaba Mal, among many others. If you're in London this summer look out for him at gigs and festivals, or follow him on twitter @nattymusic.


Anyway the song,The King Had a Dream above was produced a few days before Barack Obama's inauguration, but regardless of Obama's failings, the greater message of the song, a people's legacy of triumph against adversity, still hits home - at least with me.

Tozeza Baba

Still in Independence Day mode, I'm sitting here wishing the whole world understood Shona so I could post a playlist of all the songs I'm listening to right now. But since that's an impossible wish, I'll post one song by Oliver Mtukudzi (Tuku). It's called 'Tozeza Baba', meaning 'we are afraid of father' because the father's a drunk who beats up on the mother, as the video shows. It's also a chastening of the father by a child as Tuku's first line is 'Imi Baba imi manyanya' meaning 'you father you, you're overdoing it now.' (*insert finger wagging here*)
Depending on how much you read into Tuku's music, there's also a subversive political meaning to the song. Substitute the domestic setting for the national and this could describe the situation of the country, a nation with a political Father who unnecessarily exerts his authority on the weak and vulnerable. The genius about Tuku is that he has never openly expressed his political beliefs in his music, the listener is free to interpret his music in whatever way they wish. Both of the main political parties in Zimbabwe, Zanu and MDC, have appropriated his music because he has played at Zanu rallies so some say it suggests he supports the brand anti-colonial nationalism of Mugabe whereas the latter interpret Tuku's songs to be an anti-violence, pro-change stance, especially because of Bvuma (not the best videos) a controversial song urging someone to accept that he has gotten too old and must make way for young...

On the controversy surrounding Bvuma in 2000 (?) (year of the fast-track land re-appropriation scheme):

There was also the case of a sound engineer who worked for Oliver Mutukudzi who was apprehended after a live performance where it is said that he directed a stage light on Mugabe’s portrait when Tuku was tuning out his banned 'Bvuma' a song that has been interpreted as directed to Mugabe.
Artists such as Mutukudzi and [Thomas] Mapfumo command a huge following and their lyrical composition has always been under the spotlight. The government tried to pin down Mutukudzi for his song 'Bvuma' and he gave an excuse that he did not direct the song at the head of state. Actually it referred to his relationship with his children. Mutukudzi has been on record for making it clear that he is not a ZANU PF supporter after a series of botched attempts to align him and his music with the ruling party.

Source: Freemuse

Lumumba's Last Letter

My dear companion [Pauline],


I write you these words without knowing if they will reach you, when they will reach you, or if I will still be living when you read them. All during the length of my fight for the independence of my country, I have never doubted for a single instant the final triumph of the sacred cause to which my companions and myself have consecrated our lives. But what we wish for our country, its right to an honorable life, to a spotless dignity, to an independence without restrictions, Belgian colonialism and its Western allies-who have found direct and indirect support, deliberate and not deliberate among certain high officials of the United Nations, this organization in which we placed all our confidence when we called for their assistance-have not wished it.


They have corrupted certain of our fellow countrymen, they have contributed to distorting the truth and our enemies, that they will rise up like a single person to say no to a degrading and shameful colonialism and to reassume their dignity under a pure sun.


We are not alone. Africa, Asia, and free and liberated people from every corner of the world will always be found at the side of the Congolese. They will not abandon the light until the day comes when there are no more colonizers and their mercenaries in our country. To my children whom I leave and whom perhaps I will see no more, I wish that they be told that the future of the Congo is beautiful and that it expects for each Congolese, to accomplish the sacred task of reconstruction of our independence and our sovereignty; for without dignity there is no liberty, without justice there is no dignity, and without independence there are no free men.

No brutality, mistreatment, or torture has ever forced me to ask for grace, for I prefer to die with my head high, my faith steadfast, and my confidence profound in the destiny of my country, rather than to live in submission and scorn of sacred principles. History will one day have its say, but it will not be the history that Brussels, Paris, Washington or the United Nations will teach, but that which they will teach in the countries emancipated from colonialism and its puppets. Africa will write its own history, and it will be, to the north and to the south of the Sahara, a history of glory and dignity.

Do not weep for me, my dear companion. I know that my country, which suffers so much, will know how to defend its independence and its liberty. Long live the Congo! Long live Africa!

Patrice

Patrice Lumumba

2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961

The Assassination of Lumumba

Georges Nzongola Ntalaja in The Guardian

Adam Hochschild in The New York Times

Hochschild: "...[after the assassination] more fateful was what was to come. Four years later, one of Lumumba’s captors, an army officer named Joseph Mobutu, again with enthusiastic American support, staged a coup and began a disastrous, 32-year dictatorship. Just as geopolitics and a thirst for oil have today brought us unsavory allies like Saudi Arabia, so the cold war and a similar lust for natural resources did then. Mobutu was showered with more than $1 billion in American aid and enthusiastically welcomed to the White House by a succession of presidents; George H. W. Bush called him “one of our most valued friends.

This valued friend bled his country dry, amassed a fortune estimated at $4 billion, jetted the world by rented Concorde and bought himself an array of grand villas in Europe and multiple palaces and a yacht at home. He let public services shrivel to nothing and roads and railways be swallowed by the rain forest. By 1997, when he was overthrown and died, his country was in a state of wreckage from which it has not yet recovered.
Since that time the fatal combination of enormous natural riches and the dysfunctional government Mobutu left has ignited a long, multisided war that has killed huge numbers of Congolese or forced them from their homes. Many factors cause a war, of course, especially one as bewilderingly complex as this one. But when visiting eastern Congo some months ago, I could not help but think that one thread leading to the human suffering I saw begins with the assassination of Lumumba.
We will never know the full death toll of the current conflict, but many believe it to be in the millions. Some of that blood is on our hands. Both ordering the murders of apparent enemies and then embracing their enemies as “valued friends” come with profound, long-term consequences — a lesson worth pondering on this anniversary."

Martin Luther King on Ghana

[Independent] Ghana has something to say to us. It says to us first that the oppressor never voluntarily gives freedom to the oppressed. You have work for it. Freedom is never given to anybody. Privileged classes never give up their privileges without strong resistance.

- Martin Luther King Jnr
(1957)

Dear Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Galleway & Sotheby's, Selling Stolen Goods is A Crime!

fisttap Naija Blog & Bombastic Elements

A 16th-century ivory pendant mask from the ancient city of Benin is to be put up for sale at Sotheby’s London. On 17 February 2011, the mask is to be auctioned for an estimated £3.5m-£4.5m (US $5.4m-$6.9m). The mask is said to have been belonged to the monarchy of Benin and was worn by the Queen Mother (Iyoba (Female) Oba  (Male)) as ceremonial headgear. Apparently there are four other masks from this era which are held in museums outside of Nigeria because well, they're world history and while this is 100% true, it is sometimes used as code speak for Mother Empire of the West can look after them better than not-yet-civilized, corrupt Nigerians. 

According to the advert for the sale:

The mask and the five other Benin objects will be sold by the descendants of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Lionel Gallwey (in 1913 he changed his name to Galway) who was appointed deputy commissioner and vice-consul in the newly established Oil Rivers Protectorate (later the Niger Coast Protectorate) in 1891. He remained in Nigeria until 1902 and participated in the British Government’s “Punitive Expedition” of 1897 against Benin City. The faces of the five known pendant masks have been interpreted widely by scholars of Benin art as that of Idia, the first Queen Mother of Benin.

That the objects are described as belonging to a 'collection' are not considered stolen goods is disturbing, in the least and Jeremy Weate at Naija blog has picked up on the 'polite violence of the language.' Truth! The colonial exploit is described as some clean and legitimate process, absent of the violence that characterised the takeover of Benin which was it what the Punitive Expedition really was. This clever dressing up of things is reflective of a deeper inability within everyday citizen and media discourse that Britain has with accepting the truth of imperialism, it is not some glorious tale of journeys to 'exotic' lands and world domination, it is a long history of murder, pillage and plunder!!! I live very near to one of London's well-known museums named after an 'anthropologist' who had a 'personal collection' of stuff from Africa and south Asia that fills up two massive rooms equivalent to the size of two small halls. It's interesting that in it's brochures the museum the descriptions smoothly glide over how this vast collection was stolen...ahem, I mean acquired. After all the man had the distinguished occupation of being an anthropologist and explorer so it's perfectly natural for him to have had large 'personal collections' from the 'indigenous tribes' of Africa and south Asia.

But back to this matter of stolen property; the Galleway family are following precedent in setting their asking price at a few million quid because in 2007, an Oba bronze head stolen by another collector was sold for $4.7 million. Clearly, selling stolen goods is a very profitable business, but only when an auction house does it and when it belongs to a colonizer...ahem, I mean explorer. But fear not help/objection is on the way, the Financial Times has (sort of, impartially ...ahem) reported about it, Sahara Reporters in Nigeria are on the case and have a petition  going and some Nigerian bloggers are upset about it too. Apart from Naija blog mentioned above, Bunmi's take on the subject of returning or not returning stuff is that, while he appreciates that returning artefacts may not always be a good thing, he writes:
...I didn't hear the part where the Galleways said proceeds from the sale are going back to help develop Benin and raise the standard of living to the point where their museums and private collectors will be able to lovingly guard and care for million-pound artifacts and, perhaps, build a few art preservation and restoration schools as well.


Co-sign!!!


Now hopefully the Nigerian government will hear about this and care enough to make some noise along with the British government who should do the right thing and say something on this matter, maybe even ask The Met to have a word because if the theft of Jewish Polish paintings by Nazis is grounds for arrest* then surely a certain family has a case to answer.


*the the site where I found this story is quite content to advertise the 'sale' of the Oba mask...oh the irony.

We Want Peace

Emmanuel Jal - a former child soldier from Sudan made this song with the help of celebrities and activists to raise awareness about the January 9th, 2011 referendum in Sudan that will decide whether or not Southern Sudan should remain a part of Sudan.


 In his own words....

Emmanuel Jal
Musician. Author. Actor. Advocate.

My country is on the brink of war. On January 9, Southern Sudan will vote for its independence to be free from a government who has slaughtered and displaced our people for 43 years. The country is currently led by a regime bent on controlling oil resources.  80% of Sudan's oil fields are in the south, making it a prime battleground to displace our indigenous people.  Both north and south are preparing for war, leaving innocent people at grave risk of major human rights violations. The last civil war between North and South claimed over 2 million lives, including my own mother. I have firsthand experience as a war child, forced to fight in the conflict and torn from my family. The time to prevent another genocide is now. I have a written a new single called “We Want Peace”.  It is a call for peace, protection and justice for all in my land, and also for an end to conflicts affecting innocent people all around the world.  Thank you for joining me in my struggle.

You can help avert a genocide in Sudan by taking small steps that will make a big difference. By lobbying your government MPs and representatives, educating friends and family, planning a local event, or generating coverage in the media about the crisis, and spreading Emmanuel's message by downloading "We Want Peace",  you will help build the political power needed to prevent this conflict with diplomacy and not bloodshed.  Be a voice for the voiceless. Take Action.

If you prefer the non-celeb version:

Two Cents:

This has to be said: I posted the track because I liked it (warm fuzzy feel and that)  and because the proceeds from the song go to help those in need in Sudan, whether it's preventing boy soldiers or providing electoral aid or assistance to communities in need. The real effort to preventing genocide lies in the lobbying efforts of people or getting media attention for the situation in Sudan as Emmanuel Jal clearly states up top. Please don't confuse buying this single as an action that directly 'helps prevent genocide'. Buying a song or merchandise to fund peace projects doesn't prevent conflict from breaking out and seems a gross misunderstanding of the fact that political forces that create war and the solution to a clearly complex and volatile situation in Sudan cannot be reduced to buying a song or a t-shirt. Making peace requires direct engagement with warring factions and communities. Political settlements are not borne out of music singles or merchandise - not to say that protest music does not have it's place in conflict discourse, it does, but it's important to know precisely what role music plays. Let's be clear on that so don't go  buy the single in the belief that you're actually 'preventing genocide.'  None of that 'Save Darfur' feel-good campaign stuff please. There rant over, now you can go buy the single or donate knowing you're supporting the good work Emmanuel Jal is doing.

We Want Peace is now available on iTunes & Amazon (if you still mess with that.)

Breakdance Uganda

BOUNCING CATS film trailer from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

Bouncing Cats is the inspiring story of one man’s attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda using the unlikely tool of hip-hop with a focus on b-boy culture and breakdance. In 2006, Abraham “Abramz” Tekya, a Ugandan b-boy and A.I.D.S. orphan created Breakdance Project Uganda (B.P.U.). The dream was to establish a free workshop that would empower, rehabilitate and heal the community by teaching youth about b-boy culture. Based in Kampala, Uganda, B.P.U. has recently expanded to include permanent classes in Gulu, Northern Uganda. Abramz teaches classes three times a week to more than 300 kids from all parts of the country. Many of the children are homeless, victims of war and poverty, and few can afford proper schooling yet they walk from miles away to attend the B.P.U. classes. As Abramz says, "This is where many people’s pride is. It’s a skill that no one can take away from us."

Read more at The Liberator

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Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU) started in February 2006 out of the belief that hip hop can be used as a tool to engage and empower disadvantaged youth in Kampala and other areas of Uganda. Its mission is to engage young people in elements of the hip hop culture to build leadership skills and promote social responsibility. The Project has attracted people from every walk of life and acts as a catalyst for building mutually beneficial relationships between people of different social status across Uganda and the rest of the world. It serves to teach people breakdancing and how to pass on those skills to others, as well as promoting leadership skills, social responsibility and positive change to members and local communities.

Read more at Bouncing Cats.

Long Live The Dead Queen

1. I'm a Lady

2. They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

3. I Put A Spell On Me

On Sophie, the character cast from a fibreglass mould of Mary's own body: 

Sophie’s eyes are always closed as if in a “constant ecstasy of fantasy” and it’s in her mind that her dress becomes a thing 

of voluminous Victorian splendour. 

“If she opened her eyes, it would be back to work – cleaning this, dusting that. 

Her dress would become an ordinary maid’s uniform” 

For more head to Momo Gallery, Johannesburg for live viewing, otherwise checkout www.gallerymomo.com.

 post jacked from the uber fab bombasticelements.blogspot.com!

The Cool Ruler

Gregory Isaacs 

Son of Judah

Born 15 July 1959, passed 26 October 2010 and to be laid to rest 20 November 2010.

On the 10th of November was a tribute to Gregory Isaacs at a church in Harrow Weald, London after which his body was flown back home to Kingston, Jamaica. He is to be given a state funeral and deservedly so, for his contribution to reggae music and as a lifelong ambassador of Jamaica. In my country, state funerals are the privilege of political figures who fought on the side of the ruling party, cultural contribution matters nought. Still, fare thee well Cool Ruler thank you  for the music, skank sessions downtown and late nights ekasi. 

Night Nurse was legendary.

(UK massive check KissFM for a nice David Rodigan tribute from a few weeks ago, hope it's still there.)

ZoZo Afrobeat: Mugabe

Mugabe Song (excuse the hiccups)


Zozo Afrobeat is a 13-piece band based in new York and in April 2010 they released this protest song speaking out against the suffering of Zimbabweans under Mugabe's rule. Written by Kaleta, a former guitarist in Fela Kuti's band, the song calls Mugabe the African Hitler and calls for him to step down from power. Kaleta says, "Politics is essential to Afrobeat music... We speak truth to power. Without politics, it isn't really Afrobeat music." The word Zozo taken from the Goun and Fon word for "something hot," and the band is certainly stirring up some heat with it's music. 
Those in New York lookout for free gigs and the rest of you can checkout their website for more info and good beats: http://zozoafrobeat.com/live/

My African Mind

Film: My African Mind

MY AFRICAN MIND from BOFADACARA on Vimeo.
I saw this on Love(me)less's blog (http://aimemoimoins.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/my-african-mind) and have tried to find out more info, but alas nothing could be found apart from that it was posted by Bofadacara on Vimeo. If anyone has more info, hit me up, otherwise kickback and enjoy a six minute history lesson on the construction of race.

Black History Month

I 

just 

remembered

A 

time 

when

 I 

am 

just

 black

Just 
one
 month 
this year.

...I am a black man 
throughout all the days of the year. 

 Please don’t honour me for just 31 days of the year.

Honour me every day and in every way. 

Stephen Lawrence, stabbed to death for being black

Please don’t clutch your handbag 
when you see me walking 
towards you 
or cross the street just to avoid me. 

It’s alright to make eye contact, nod or even acknowledge my presence. 

I’m probably headed to or back from work 
when we meet…
matter of fact
 the other day I was off to a café with a good book in hand. 

Just 
so
 you
 know, 
I 
want
 absolutely
 nothing
 from 
you 
except 
a little respect 
all the days of the year.

Happy

....to those who still believe 
that one month 
is all we deserve.

Aluta Continua...


by
SirNigel

The first verse of this is a haiku by Sir Nigel (www.sirnige.com) and the rest are his words, I felt they sounded poetic so with his permission, I re-arranged his words into a poem. 
copyright: sirnige
All images jacked from Google, too many to do fotocred.