QUESTIONS OF THE SOUL poem by Thobs the Zulu Queen

THE SOUL Question

what is the meaning of life?

I figure life is self-discovery

to reach the well of self-knowledge

zazi

because even when you are loved surrounded by people who care for you

you're still lonely...

for there are matters of the heart that no one can help you with ...except yourself...

So I take a step back to observe me ...removing all the cobwebs of fear removing cobwebs of pain ,frustration ,anger and confusion about life and intention and I find myself in the gate of content where I step in calmly with a pounding heart ,here I learn there is peace within war and there is love within hate so I remove the cloaks of pretence, intimidation, lust, confusion and frustration

that life has revealed

and I stand naked before my fears and worries

before my hopes and dreams…

I stared at my reality in the face and the soul answered

such is life...live.

what is it that we  really fear?

is it the fear of the silence that surrounds us that exposes  our own thoughts so loud like morning birds outside your window

or is it the fear of doors in the heart shut for a long long time but the hinges are cracking threatening to burst open...

what is it that we we fear

do we fear that yes we have walked and l lived

and are now steadily reaping our fruits..

to have to eat our words bitter or sweet. for we spoke

we confirmed

that yes we will not tire fighting for human rights

we will not tire seeking and becoming our identity

we will not let go of our dreams

what is it that we fear do we fear our lack of faith in the capabilities of those that brought  us this far...do we fear hunger nakedness or the lack of material

or do we fear that day by day we become closer to the power of being,just being your self

even when they judge you unfairly

just be yourself

Even when they give you false smiles and shaky hugs of uncertainty

just be yourself… wat a ting

what is it that we fear

do we fear that our dreams may not materialize. just because those before us tried

the system dissed and dismissed them

we give our hearts half heatedly to art..

no man it's not an excuse

what is it that we fear?

BY:Thobs the Zulu Queen

WINNIE MANDELA

"Even being in exile really is a constant reminder of the sickness of our society, and that we are virtually in prison, even in our country. Those who are outside prison walls are simply in a bigger prison because the black man is virtually a prisoner, and all those other fellow whites and other groups that are oppressed as we are, we are all really in prison, in a bigger apartheid prison." Winnie Mandela

Born Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela on September 26, 1936, in Bizana, a rural village in the Transkei district of South Africa, Winnie Mandela eventually moved to Johannesburg in 1953 to study at the Jan Hofmeyr School of Social Work. South Africa was under the system known as apartheid, where citizens of indigenous African descent were subjected to a harsh caste system in which European descendants enjoyed much higher levels of wealth, health and social freedom.

Nelson Mandela was routinely arrested so Winnie Mandela raised their two small daughters, Zenani and Zindzi, single-handedly. Nonetheless, Winnie vowed to continue working to end apartheid; she was involved surreptitiously with the ANC and sent her children to boarding school in Swaziland to offer them a more peaceful upbringing.

Monitored by the government, Winnie Mandela was arrested under the Suppression of Terrorism Act and spent more than a year in solitary confinement, where she was tortured. Upon her release, she continued her activism and was jailed several more times. Then after the Soweto 1976 uprisings where hundreds of students were killed, she was forced by the government to relocate to the border town of Brandfort in 1977 and placed under house arrest. She described the experience as alienating and heart-wrenching, yet she continued to speak out, as in a 1981 statement to the BBC on black South African economic might and its ability to overturn the system.

In 1985, after her home was firebombed, Winnie returned to Soweto and continued to agitate against the regime even during government media bans. Her actions continued to cement the title bestowed upon her, "Mother of the Nation".

Stand firm...military woman,strong woman,revolutionary mother.

a poem by Malika Ndlovu

Malika Ndlovu born in Durban but much hailed in Cape Town and around the world, she is an inspiration to many young and experienced poets, writers and performers, well-travelled and a beautiful representation of mother earth.

She is a word smith she is a weaver of stories, she is a mother and a creator of several multimedia productions, she is well travelled UK, Ireland, the Philippines, Austria and other several places.

The Beauty about sis Malika is her collaboration work with other artists which is part of what motivates her personal mantra:Healing through creating

this here is one of my favourite poems 

The Tower

by Malika Ndlovu

Dedicated to our mothers who participated 
in the Women’s Anti-Pass March on 9th August 1956

Sung Intro: I can hear Mama Ngoyi say
My mother believed only death
Would wipe our tears away
But Mama we could not wait
We were not born to live this way

Over twenty thousand warrior women 
Transcending poverty, distance and difference
Aware of the dangers yet marching on in the heat
Forty thousand angry determined feet
Pounding the capital streets
One hundred thousand burning signatures
Flaming voices rising from paper
Two hundred thousand women’s hands 
Tearing open an oppressive sky
No wonder the Lion of the North
Disappeared before they arrived

And finding his absence
Still delivered their message of mass defiance
They did not turn away or to violence
Instead in that moment 
Built a thirty-minute tower of silence
A tower to honour their effort and intentions
Their victorious presence in that site
Their soles sinking deep roots
Into that stolen piece of land
Hand in hand these mothers 
Built that tower for all of us

For the sons and daughters on their backs
The generations still to come
That tower still stands in the minds
Of those who remember
Niyakhumbula?
Here and now that tower built in 1956
Continues to transmit 
Its message of unity and courage
Urging us to speak and act in solidarity 
So we all have the opportunity to rise
Open your eyes, recognise this tower in our times
Hear its unmistakeable call
Penetrating glass ceilings and domestic walls
So every woman, young and old reclaims her voice, her space
So we all see ourselves mirrored in each other
Rediscover this inheritance and in the potency of silence
Cross new thresholds, birth new visions for our lives

Open your eyes, recognise this tower in our times
How it still vibrates the earth like the thunder of their feet
How it resonates with their names:
Lilian Ngoyi, Albertina Sisulu
Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, Charlotte Manye-Maxeke
Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa
Ruth First, Dora Tamana
Annie Silinga, Florence Matomela
Winifred Kgoare, Dorothy Nyembe
Ray Alexander-Simons, Madie Hall-Xuma
Ellen Khuzwayo, Cissy Gool, Ida Mntwana
Winifred Siqwana, Mam Dube, Dr. Chuene
Hear that tower roar
In the name of thousands more
Across the landscape of our history
So we remember their fire
So we prosper in the spirit of their song

Wathint’ abafazi, Wathint’ imbokodo – uzokufa

                               

Where I come from cannot determine where I am going!

                            Mother Ruth 

          

                                                            

 Born in the land where they worship Chemosh and killed babies as sacrifice, a place where children are sacrificed shows little value for family life yet alone life in itself,  Ruth was exposed to highly perverse culture and worst form of human behavior, in this day and age some of us are like her born in highly disturbing culture of sheebeens(beer halls), molested at young ages sold for prostitution. etc

Moab was considered a cursed place because of what Lots daughters had done after they managed to escape with their father away from Sodom and Gomorrah Genesis 19;30-38

Mother Ruth decided to live her past and move beyond her upbringing, most people don’t move beyond their upbringing they don’t move beyond what they have been exposed to in their past. Living the past is not about living the negative aspect only behind for others is it is leaving behind the past they perceive to be better than their present others it’s about letting go of past successes.

 Ruth decided to leave the past behind and cleave to what Jah has for her. so we too us as well leave your yesterday cleave to today ,leave your failures and hold on to Jah’s promises leave your old ways and cleave to the forgiveness Jah gives you, to be fit means to be appropriate or qualified.

Leaving yesterday is a continual process, you leave yesterday behind the moment you begin today, and with every step forward there must be a leaving of what is past. Jah does not consult your past to determine you are future. Abraham had a past but Jah used him for great works because of his faith.

Jah does not bind us to our past. Yesterday is a tomb tomorrow is in the womb what we are intimate with, right now is what we will birth in our future.

Let go of the past embrace your future..forgetting means you choose not to dwell in the memories for as a man thinketh so shall it be our thoughts become our words. Reaching forward means new thoughts .Pressing towards the goal means to resist that which would hinder your moving into your destiny, meditate on things that are praise worthy.

Thoughts do come about the brokenness of our past or thoughts of lose in our past but the vision of your destiny will give you strength to press on forward, to move forward one has to resist fear, including the fear of the unknown and there is a spirit fighting those who choose to move forward keeping their souls in fear not to reach their ultimate freedom of the soul as Jah want us to be.

Like Mother Ruth do not look behind.

Do not long for the things that have past.

Don’t linger emotionally, mentally and spiritually on things that are over.

Don’t stay on the same level.

Like Mother Ruth Jah has a future for you

living is your birthright.     

WHO AM I PICTURES

LEGEND ON STEEL STRINGS :Sister Rosetta Tharpe

lol I think I just found my past life twin   for the love of music 

Born in Arkansas in 1915, Sister Rosetta Tharpe began performing as a child with her mother. One of the first gospel artists to perform in both churches and secular clubs, she is credited with bringing gospel music into the mainstream in the 1930s and 1940s. She toured until her death in 1973.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was born Rosetta Nubin on March 20, 1915, in Cotton Plant, Arkansas. Although the identity of her father is unknown, Tharpe's mother, Katie Bell Nubin, was a singer, mandolin player and evangelist preacher for the Church of God in Christ; the COGIC, founded by a black Baptist bishop named Charles Mason in 1894, encouraged musical expression in worship and allowed women to preach. At the encouragement of her mother, Tharpe began singing and playing the guitar from a very young age, and was by all accounts a musical prodigy.

She began performing onstage with her mother from the age of four, playing the guitar and singing "Jesus Is on the Main Line." By age six, she had joined her mother as a regular performer in a traveling evangelical troupe. Billed as a "singing and guitar playing miracle," Rosetta Tharpe accompanied her mother in hybrid performances—part sermon, part gospel concert—before audiences all across the American South.

In the mid-1920s, Tharpe and her mother settled in Chicago, Illinois, where the duo continued to perform religious concerts at the COGIC church on 40th Street while occasionally traveling to perform at church conventions throughout the country. As a result, Tharpe developed considerable fame as a musical prodigy, standing out in an era when prominent black female guitarists remained very rare; blues legend Memphis Minnie was the only such performer to enjoy national fame at the time.

In 1934, at the age of 19, Rosetta Tharpe married a COGIC preacher named Thomas Thorpe, who had accompanied her and her mother on many of their tours. Although the marriage only lasted a short time, she decided to incorporate a version of her first husband's surname into her stage name, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, which she would use for the rest of her career.

THE MOTHER WARRIOR REBEL TEACHER KINDA POET

D´bi Young

She is a Mother.Worrier.Poet.Rebel Teacher. Playwriter and Love


This woman inspires me she speaks and all of me, the past, the present and the future is awake and present.
a couple years back  (my fragile stages of being an artist :) )  I met  her while she was setting up residency program in Cape Town (which she has them all over the world now I  mean literally all over) you get a sense of completeness around her she is knowledgeable and communicates clearly your spirit wont miss a word she drops.

books,comics,albums, man she is accomplished and in her journey she empowers has empowered and continuous empowering many artists, many creative s and helped many find their calling and speak their truth.

one of South Africa storytellers   Gcina Mhlope says :" a story teller  speaks to be heard and understood,communicates a vision to the people and be honest and to me thats exactly D bi she draws from wells of her experience and one cannot help be inspired and to be humbled as a writer and performer to do better.

She has come up with the SURPLUSI method which for me as a growing artist then and even now is a strengthening tool to apply in your day to day life so to share stories wholisticaly and with pure intentions as an artist and as a creative.I pray that one of these years I will make it to  her residencies no matter where in the world the may be.

Blood claat

blood blood blood blood.claat
blood blood blood blood.claat

living inna time/where di blood is marketable
like di rest of my body/everyting is sellable
toxic shock syndrome/proctor gamble
chlorine bleach pad/suck blood mi nuh have

lurking culture vultures/a siddung pon di shelf
legalized pimping a mi cunt and mi blood

wid or widout applicators/wid or widout wings
brands a b c and d/don’t give a blood.claat bout me

yuh evah notice/see dem pon tv
cotex tampax always or maxi
dem nuh use red/a blue dem use instead
and i’m wondering from where di shame / around my cunt came from
like a covert operashun / more than half di populashun bleed

we used to have nuff nuff nuff nuff blood ritual
where oomaan come togeddah/and bleed inna di land
but now di blood naw flow/where did the rituals go
manufactured shame/designed to keep me inna chains

I bleed

five nights of bleeding/blood inna mi eye
five nights of bleeding/blood inna mi head
five nights of bleeding/blood inna mi womb
five nights of bleeding/blood inna mi cunt
five nights of bleeding/blood deh pon di ground
and when war come/whose blood run

brixton/railton road/rainbow/blues-dance/telegraph
like rivah blood just a flow/ wid blood liberashun have a chance
grenada joburg haiti
slavery ban mi belly and bleed/ ban mi belly an bleed
one century two century three century four/ five century overboard
captivity no more for she a come
blood fi wash yuh hate away/ blood fi wash yuh rape
blood fi wash di pain away/ blood fi wash di slate clean
blood gwine guh tek yuh/ blood gwine guh tek yuh

I bleed
why wi teach young amazons/to hide di fact dat
aunt flow come once a month/and she’s a setback?
don’t talk about har too loud inna public
be careful not to get CREASHUN pon di toilet
watch out yuh might get some CELEBRASHUN pon di chair
don’t stain di sheets wid yuh LIBARASHUN
nor di streets wid yuh REVOLUSHUN
young black bush oomaan/nuh birth a nation

young black bush oomaan walking around
no-one knows har name
she’s feeling demonized/ dehumanized/ disempoweredized
she needs to deprogrammize
close har eyes/ and feel inna di darkness
di deepness /di wetness/di redness a blood
I bleed

and when she comes to me once every month
she brings positive vibrashun wid har ciphah
no doc mi nuh waan nuh tylenol/no midol/no advil
no spirit killers to numb dis healing
jus gimme red raspberry tea
and i’ll be tranquil
right now she universe is communicating
I am elevating
surrendering myself to she gawdess within

ancient moddah spirit is calling
if I were in di bush/I would be bleeding
in di earth
watering har body wid mi healing
but mi live inna di shitty
no pad no tampon no liner no towel
no oppreshun / sheets well bloody
bleeding pon di bed instead

I bleed cuz i’m a warrior
amazon dawtah of yemoja
I bleed becuz di blood of di moon
di blood of di earth / di blood of di wind
di blood of di rain / di blood of di sun
makes me mawu: ancient afrikan gawdess divine who creates all life
black bush oomaan

http://badilishapoetry.com/radio/DbiYoung/ (audio for the  peom)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16_YaQMu20o

http://www.inktalks.com/people/dbiyounganitafrika

http://dbi333.com/


be inspired..love is how we evolve

I MET GOD by Richelle Nicole

When I was in Barbados I had a beautiful pleasure of meeting a sister Richelle Nicole a gentle kind spirit and we did some collaboration work and Soooo this morning I saw one of her poems on facebook and it left feeling like yes thats it!!!. 

love is to be shared.Have a beautiful day!
So I dedicate this poem to you.

a poem by Richelle Nicole 

I Met God
I met God

I med God and she spoke to me in tongues unknown
Her 'hi ' never came close to my 'hello' and she never faulted me
Nahhhhhhh
Instead she told me she loves me for me
Said I should do the same
Cause in the end
It's going to be her and I at the end of my life
Now I thought this all was a line
Then I realised this woman was so powerful
There was greatness in her eyes
7 billion people and she made time
For me
Made me think
If I am so special in someone's eyes no matter their omnipotence
Then I must see that in me
Myself and I have seen what it's like not to

I met God

I met God and she spoke to me in tongues unknown
This new energy she created in me
Also known to be inspiration's seed
The way I see it
I have seen what it's like to be deserted
And now I have her on my side
Me on my own
I can't do better than depending on number 1
So thank you God for rekindling a flame I stamped into darkness
Sometimes forgiveness of self is the hardest
It helps that on my side there's a Goddess.