Thobela Ntate Tladi,
Leina lame ke Thabiso, wa ga Nkoana. Ke Sedingwane, Makolometsha, ngwan’a noka e
kgolo, Peba. I am a self-proclaimed wordsmith who recently won the best poetry
performance at the Zabalaza theatre festival ya Baxter Theatre as well as the
slam poetry competition ya Slipnet held in Stellenbosch. I have been writing and reciting poetry for
the better part of the last fifteen years of my life. I have a blog (thabisonkoana.blogspot.com) in
which I post some of my poetry and any essays I write for college purposes,
which I deem to be of benefit for the general public – all about topics in
music, musicology or ethnomusicology. I
am the eldest son of a man and woman who are workers, blue collar, from
Hammanskraal and Kagiso respectively: a man and a woman who played important
roles (directly and indirectly) in the political liberation of Azania. I was born in Kagiso myself and raised in
Diepkloof.
It is very important that you know exactly who
I am so as to be able to contextualise this letter and my work.
I recently read an article on the Sowetan Live website titled, “Today's SA
protest poets have no ideology, says Tladi.”
Suffice it to say, I was extremely offended, as is made apparent by my
comment on said site. The first question
I wish ask is this, who are these protest poets of which you speak so
scathingly? Certainly someone of your
stature knows better than to make such sweeping statements about such a diverse
group of people. Especially being from
an era where generalisations led to one of the most inhumane laws the world has
ever seen.
Second, what exactly is it that you would like
to see happening with poets and poetry of our age? (I use the word our very specifically, as opposed to yours) Instead of berating the
youth for their alleged lack of direction or unifying ideology, as an elder,
you should rather suggest what we could and should be doing. This, of course, does not mean that we will
take what you say and blindly run with it, rather, it would be a chance for us
to discuss and debate various options and ideas.
I have always had one complaint about your
generation. You all went out and did a
vigorous toyi toyi for the liberation of this wonderful country, came home for
your colour film plate of food, watched the news, read the paper and went to
bed. Only so you can do it all again the
next day. The very children and youth
that your were apparently fighting for were never sat down and guided as to
what you expect of us when this freedom is won.
Then your generation has the audacity to moan about this or that. Is it or was it our duty to educate ourselves
as to the best way forward after that now famous negotiated settlement? Clearly it was and that is what we did. We are in the process of building a nation, a
world that you might not understand, but will have to accept.
It is indeed the nature of life for older generations
to complain about the following generation.
I see it in ourselves by how much we complain about, for example, the
music teens are listening to these days.
So I am not surprised by your utterances.
The third point I’d like to address is your assumptions. Why do you assume Black Consciousness does
not inspire us? What makes you feel we
aren’t writing stories about ourselves in an effort to “…teach about
ourselves…?” Not being sure if you were
indeed being vague or if the article was perhaps badly edited, you have said a
lot of not much. All you’ve done is
speak about yourself and your generation.
As shining examples of what it means to be an artist or a poet. Not once did you take the opportunity to
possibly research or analyse our situation as the youth movement.
Lastly, I personally pride myself in making
sure that my poetry not only highlights problems, but also offers up possible
solutions to said predicaments. Many of
my peers have a very clear and definite idea of where we want this country to
go. We use our various talents to
propagate ideologies and ideas that we
believe will best suit our communities.
If you’re wondering what those are, you must ask.
You speak about us in such a patronising and
condescending manner. Like we’re
ignorant gold diggers who are hungry for television fame. Indeed, many who have joined the ranks of
poets in this country are in it for the wrong reasons, like the hype. It’s very cool to be a poet these days, you
get the girls, a little bit of underground fame, people think your “deep” and
it’s all a fun ride from one stage to another.
With that being said; do not for a second
think that we are all that way inclined.
Do you think being a protest poet in this day and age is any
easier? You’ve seen what happens to
artists like Ayanda Mbulu or journalists like Mzilikazi wa Afrika, you know
that people are being assassinated in the North West and KwaZulu-Natal, so just
because the dangers you faced were more apparent, don’t diminish those that
face us. We are very brave, if not more
so, because we have to protest against our “heroes.” Write protest against people like Nelson
Mandela, an international hero. I am
sure you can admit how that cannot be easy, particularly in Azania. We have to protest against multi-national
corporations whose capital could help improve the lives of many a youth of
Azania. In writing and performing such
works, we run the risk of alienating said capital.
As for this Mothibe fellow, the less said the
better.
Please uncle, don’t paint us with the same
brush. E, re na le diphoso, empa ga re
tshwane.
Again I point you to a poem I wrote some years
ago that speaks to this very issue, http://thabisonkoana.blogspot.com/2013/02/for-poets.html.
I hope this letter finds you well and wish to
end by thanking you for giving us something to think about and for the amazing
contribution you’ve made to the love of our lives, poetry.
Sincerely,
#Wordsmith
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