By Tendy Kay
Looking at your background, you have done a lot of creative things like singing and performing but when did you realize poetry was your thing?
God is a poet. At least that’s what I believe… So, there is an inborn poetic talent in each of us though I can’t really say that Poetry is my “thing”. Rather, it is one of the many ways in which I am able to best express myself and stretch my senses – my thoughts and dreams, my fears and hopes, my fantasies and reality, my inspirations and aspirations. I’m not sure when the light bulb came on (bling!) but I started dreaming of one day being a writer and versing my sentiments as well as those writers and poets did in those books. Man, they filled those dull creamed white pages with such colour that made my world come alive. I toyed with my writing ability throughout primary school and secondary/high school and haven’t stopped fiddling with it till now.
You call yourself an ethno-urban-hip hop-soul-poetess; what exactly is this style of poetry?
Ethno-Urban-Hiphop-Soul-Poetess, that’s what I am. It is not a style of poetry but merely an expression of the various creative elements that inspire my writings and spoken word performance. It is not part of slam poetry neither is it beat poetry. Ethno is for the pride I feel towards my African tribal and traditional roots, the essence of my poetry – a stamp that reads “proudly made in Africa”. Urban stands for the places that drive me and make me ‘tick’, the hub from where I draw my inspiration, the place where I experience life as I know it. Hiphop is the musicality associated with my poetic renditions, the rhythm my words dance to when pen meets paper and hand touches mic. Soul is the source of my words and their meanings, the root of my attitudes and beliefs, the home of my values and aspirations. Poetess is for the woman that I am, an epitome of the femininity of poetry.
You are an activist for cultural heritage, tell me about the initiatives you have started or you are part of, in either Malawi or South Africa?
There is so much to tell you about my role in cultural activism. Currently I have a company called Afro Poetics Creations which focuses on arts promotion, public relations and strategic marketing-communications all geared towards entrenching a sense of African identity among the continent’s business fraternity. As a creative agency started in SA, we have produced various TV broadcast events such as the SABC/African Bank Voice of Choice Awards, the launch of SABC Kids News Room – the only children’s television news programme in Africa, radio programming for all SABC 13 black public broadcast radio stations for Youth Day and Heritage Day celebrations, etc. All these projects were rooted in promoting African values and value systems as well as harnessing the wisdom of our indigenous knowledge systems and communicating this to youth across South Africa. It is vital if we are to attain leadership of our nations in the future, we have to know who we are, what we have, how to use our resources and how to preserve such knowledge for future generations. I am also an Executive Director of the African Cultural Link, an NGO co-founded with a colleague in RSA to promote African cultures and arts. I am also the Vice-President of the Afrocentric Club in RSA (a branch will hopefully be registered in Malawi soon), a voluntary association aimed at progressing African values and values systems in the workplace and platform for marketing African companies and products to potential “buyers” around the world. I initiated the I AM Afrika Cultural Tour in 2005 as a vehicle for curbing xenophobia among South African youth – this included a series of business-arts workshops, shooting of a film documentary, live performances, strategic meetings with corporate, creatives and government stakeholders including Chief Mtwalo of Mzimba, visits to heritage sites and lifestyle hubs, etc. Afro Poetics is registered for business here in Malawi too and the Afrocentric Club will soon have a home here too as soon as we hear back from the registrar of companies. I have organised several Africa Day events as well as African Cultural Evenings in SA to promote unity among Africans and they were successful. Maybe I can do them here too – we will see.
With reference to a statement that you made in your book, you said your fight is to end all forms of racism in Africa, do you feel there is racism in Malawi?
There is definitely racism in Malawi, it has always been here – not as blatant as in places like South Africa, the UK or the US but it is here nonetheless. Strangely, I sometimes understand Malawi’s brand of racism, it is more reactionary than anything – people want to preserve what is theirs and what has belonged to their fore-parents for centuries and sometimes the way privileges are awarded to non-Malawians as compared to what Malawians are often afforded in their own country is enough to drive a sane woman like me crazy. I may develop a resentment towards Indians, for example, simply because they have been allowed to buy up almost if not all of Limbe town whereas I would never be afforded that same privilege if I went to India. I can’t go to India and build a Church complete with swinging bell and a psalmist in the middle of an Indian city but here they do that with no regard for whether or nor they do it in Christian communities. It is absurd. White people have been allowed to purchase land (even islands) along some of the best lake shores in the country but Malawians are struggling to get the same privilege in our country or even in Europe and the USA. Makes you think, wonder and slander! These, I think, are some of the issues that breed racism – land issues, obliteration of a natural people’s way f life and spirituality in favour of one that is alien to both the land and its people. One thing I know for sure, if anyone dares to get racist on me in my motherland, the mere sound of my words will send them to the border fast with a one way ticket in hand never to return. I can’t tolerate such things and have no patience for it either. I hate racism, tribalism, xenophobia and all these things but I know that they are real issues that we grapple with as a global society and the only solution is to breed more love – love of self and ultimately love of others. Change is happening and I hope that soon Malawians will be treated with respect by the foreigners that visit our country, with the same sense of dignity that we pride ourselves in having.
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