SNI 2011 Registration

Hi All,

The 2nd annual September National Imbizo to be held from 23-25 September is only weeks away. After the success of the 2010 gathering we hope to host yet another important platform for blacks seeking real and meaningful change. This year, the conference will be in Durban and preparations are already underway for what will certainly be a crucial mark in the history of post-94 black resistance against ANC anti-black governance.

Below are the logistical details that you must please pay close attention to.

REGISTRATION

All people wishing to attend the conference must register. Registration will be open from TUESDAY 26 July 2011 and end on FRIDAY 2 September 2011. The compulsory registration fee is R250 for adults and R150 for students, pensioners and ALL delegates who currently live in and around Durban and will not require accommodation.

To register, fill in the registration form and email/fax it together with your proof of payment. Find the registration form on the SNI facebook page or email us on: imbizo.sni1@gmail.com for a copy.

SPECIAL OFFER: The first 25 people to register by 5 August 2011 will get FREE ACCOMMODATION so make sure you register within the said date to take advantage of this offer.

***Please note: Registration been extended to Monday 12 September and payments can be made until Friday 16 September. To get a form send an email to imbizo.sni1@gmail.com***

ACCOMMODATION

We encourage all delegates who live outside of Durban to stay with relatives or friends who live in the city. SNI has a simple policy regarding funding: the SNI is OUR initiative and we should fund it ourselves. This means that funds are very limited and those who are able to find accommodation with family or comrades must please do so. In the event however, that you cannot find someone to stay with, you will be required to pay R100 towards accommodation (in addition to the R250 registration). This must please be paid at the same time as the registration fee.

MEALS

The SNI will provide 5 meals over the two days namely: Friday supper, Saturday: breakfast, lunch and supper and on Sunday a brunch.

TRANSPORT

All delegates are expected to fund their own transportation to and from the conference. You are encouraged, where possible; to travel with other delegates in your province as this may prove to be slightly cheaper. If you prefer to travel alone, then book early and watch out for bus and airline specials.

PROGRAMME

The exact details of the programme are being finalized by the content team. What can be confirmed at this stage is that the official opening will start on Friday 23 September at 18:00 and the weekends line up will end on Sunday 25 September at 13:00. The final programme will be sent as soon as possible but will include: a review of the last year, an international scholar who will engage us via Skype, a panel discussion on Black Consciousness, an evening of performances and much more.

Remember there are limited seats for the conference so book yours early!

Queries

SNI Logistics
Thami Mahlobo: 072 969 5803
Email us on imbizo.sni1@gmail.com

Born Free - Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti

Born free we are
Yet poisoned still
Born in peace we are
Yet our minds thirst for blood
Born in privilege
Yet envy cripples our direction
Birthed from brave souls
Yet our destinies are drenched in old fears
Indeed a coward nation.

New South Africa?
Over-concentration of colour
Or over-concentration of racism?

To vote is to:
Pledge one’s allegiance to dead struggles
To vote is to:
Pledge one’s mind to senseless paranoia
To vote is to:
Pledge one’s mind to war in a time of peace

Witgevaar? Of swartgevaar?
It makes no difference
To vote is to embrace
Fear
Australia or Tendermania?
It makes no difference
Escapism is our vice
Bravery we do not know
Indeed a coward nation.

Ohene Yaw Ampofo-Anti ©

August Newsletter

Progressive greetings friends!

A special greeting to all the wonderful women who brought us all here. To all the mothers, sisters, friends, lovers and wives we lovingly salute YOU this women’s month.
In South Africa the month of August is set apart to celebrate the contribution women make in our lives, in communities and in the world. Phenonemal woman, that’s YOU!

What’s new with the blog?

1. There is a link that shows the 3 most popular posts on the blog. Scroll down the UWWUL blog page.

2. You can also subscribe by email l to the blog so that when a new post has been made, you will be the first to receive it conveniently to your personal email address.
(Your email address will remain private; your details are secure and will not be shared.)

3. The first leg winner of thewriting contest for Lesotho based artists has been chosen, the theme was Freedom/ Democracy.
The winning piece is by Sekete Lesoana, it is titled: Journey into a moment. http://uwritewhatulike.blogspot.com/2011/08/freedom-theme-winner-sekete-lesaoana.html

4. Are you an Lesotho based poet/ writer/artist?
Then get more info the writing competition by clicking this link: http://uwritewhatulike.blogspot.com/2011/07/writing-contest-lesotho-based-artists.html
The theme for this month’s contest is centered around the 16 days of activism against the abuse of women and children.

5. Ivan “AfroIvan” Muhambe is introducing his range of quality t-shirts depicting some of his artistry. He is the artist whose craft appears on the front and back cover of the AfroConscious journal (2010). He's in Maputo, Mozambique, and you can get the copies of the journal from him if you are in his region. Here is a link to some of his creations: http://uwritewhatulike.blogspot.com/2011/08/afroivan-arts-tshirts.html

6. The Grahamstown National Arts Festival is accepting proposals for the 2012 Festival, here is the link if YOU want to make your contribution. http://uwritewhatulike.blogspot.com/2011/08/grahamstown-national-arts-fest-2012.html
Our fellow sister, Sibongisiwe A. Sibeko, was a participant in this year’s festival. She appeared in the play: “Khululekani emakhaya” if you are in Cape Town you can check it out at the Magnet Theatre in Observatory.

7. YOU have the power to make a change. Please check out the September National Imbizo (SNI), its first conference was in September 2010.
This year its happening again, 23-25 September 2011, Durban.
I have uploaded the People’s Manifesto for your reading pleasure: http://uwritewhatulike.blogspot.com/2011/08/tuesday-may-31-2011-peoples-manifesto.html!

What are you reading?
I’ve finished reading a story by a South African author, Dianne Hofmeyr, title The Waterbearer. It’s beautifully written piece of art.
Here is a profound quote by the character, Ingwe, “Our lives start before we are born. There is no beginning or end. We are bound by the Earth for some time and then our spirits are set free again.” What are YOU reading? Do you have a book you would like to recommend? Share!

What are you writing? If YOU are not reading are you atleast writing? This month’s challenge is to pen a piece that is centered around WOMEN.
For inspiration feast your soul on this piece by celebrated author, Maya Angelou, : Phenomenal Woman: http://uwritewhatulike.blogspot.com/2011/08/phenomenal-woman-maya-angelou.html

Make sure to check out the poetry posted on the Facebook group wall by Charles Ayo Dada:
http://uwritewhatulike.blogspot.com/2011/08/at-frontiers-of-war-charles-ayo-dada.html

If you have any literature centred news/event/project you want to spread to many, you can post it to the Facebook group wall: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=65172951976

YOU can also become a contributor to the UWWUL blog and share with multitudes,contact me for that.

Thank YOU all for the support on this blog, page views so far: 4120. I would like to welcome home the new members of this fam!

Literally yours,
Vuyokazi

Grahamstown National Arts Fest 2012

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The 38th edition of the National Arts Festival will take place from Thursday 28 June – Sunday 8 July 2012. The Festival call for proposals from artists, producers, presenting companies and / or galleries to submit proposals for consideration for performances and exhibitions to be presented on the Festival’s Main programme.

The Festival’s Main programme is renowned for premiering new work that celebrates artistic excellence, innovation and an exploration of intersections between various artistic genres.

Consideration will be given to previously premiered work if in the opinion of the Festival Director the work deserves an extended season at the Festival.

All proposals must be submitted as per the brief specified in this call of proposals.

Non-South African companies intending to submit proposals must read the sections relevant to their genre and the section pertaining to non-South African companies.

To submit proposals for projects not covered in this brief please consult with the Festival Director prior to submitting the proposal.

Correspondence to the Festival Director can be emailed to ismail@nationalartsfestival.co.za

Please address all proposals to:
Festival Director
National Arts Festival
P O Box 304
Grahamstown
6140
South Africa.

Please clearly mark “Main Festival Proposal” on the envelope.

All Festivals received by registered mail will be acknowledged. The Festival does not take responsibility for non registered mail which does not reach the Festival’s office.

All proposals must reach the office of the Festival Director no later than Friday 19 August 2011.

Specific guidelines are in place for different genres. Please read and follow the guidelines carefully.

Theatre
Dance and Physical Theatre
Music
Site Specific Performances
Exhibitions
Public Art
International Productions

More info: http://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za/page/2012

At the Frontiers of war - Charles Ayo Dada

Charles Ayo Dada AT THE FRONTIERS OF WAR

It was one of the weirdest battles
I had ever witnessed.
The battle line was drawn
And the foes
- A man and a woman -
Stepped up to the battle front.

The woman was wielding
A double-edged sword
And the man … a rose!

At the commencement of the battle
Their different weapons were raised
And on sighting the rose
The woman lowered her sword and wept.
Amidst her wails and sobs
She stretched forth her other arm
And cupped the rose in her palm.

There was jubilation…
The man erupted into a joyful dance!
On his return
He flung open his arms
Further bidding this loving woman into his embrace.

Just then her eyes glowed
With renewed determination!

She tightened her grip
On the hilt of the sword
And thrust it into the man’s heart!

“I must!” she cried
“I must!”

As the man fell to the ground
Clutching the handle of the sword in disbelief
She wailed out in a lonesome voice
“I love you… but I must!”

The people's manifesto SNI

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2011

The People's Manifesto

We, the people of South Africa, hereby legislate a new law, titled:

“POLITICIANS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS USE PUBLIC SERVICES”.

This law compels all politicians, from the president to the local councillor, and all public servants, from the Director General to the sweeper and their families to use public utilities.

Starting with the following:

Hospitals
Schools
Transport
Housing (The same standard house given to citizens must be used by politicians and public servants)


Our politicians and public servants have, for the past 17 years, neglected public services Forfar too long because they know they can take their families to the private sector. We say, what’s good for you is good for us. Equality for all, for real!

Our hospitals are falling apart; doctors and nurses are overworked and underpaid. By and large, our public hospitals are places of death. Simply put, no one is safe in our public hospitals. Our leaders, politicians, senior public servants and their families use private hospitals and that is why they don’t care about public hospitals which are used by the poor.

Our public schools are in bad condition, teachers are underpaid and the government is not investing in their training with the result that after 12 years of schooling most children from public schools can’t read, write or count. This leads to a high unemployment rate amongst the youth who are trapped in hopelessness. Politicians and senior civil servants take their children to private schools. This explains why public schools are not a priority for them.

Our public transport system is appalling. Every morning and night our people are packed into taxis, buses and trains like sardines. The queues are long and the fares are high. Our leaders, the rich and senior civil servants have big subsidies to get private transport. Some of our ministers can buy cars worth millions with taxpayers’ money.

The townships are generally badly serviced. The houses are small and millions are forced to live in shacks. The RDP houses built by our black government are worse than the matchbox houses built during apartheid. Our leaders live in mansions, while the people are forced to live in rat-infested townships.

We hereby commit ourselves to struggle to realize this legislation to hold public representatives and servants accountable to the people!

Together let’s make this law a reality.






"The politicians have failed us. After 17 years of democracy, we see the great dream of Oliver Tambo, Robert Sobukwe and Steve Biko shattered. Our democracy is simply not working for the majority of its citizens. It's time to look for new solutions and new inspirations to lead our country out of the current political and economic impasse. We simply can no longer leave it to the politicians." SNI Team

The SNI is on facebook, search for: 'SEPTEMBER NATIONAL IMBIZO'

23-25 September 2011 in Durban

2pac CHANGES

[1]
Come on come on
I see no changes. Wake up in the morning and I ask myself,
"Is life worth living? Should I blast myself?"
I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black.
My stomach hurts, so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch.
Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero.
Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares? One less hungry mouth on the welfare.
First ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothers.
Give 'em guns, step back, and watch 'em kill each other.
"It's time to fight back", that's what Huey said.
2 shots in the dark now Huey's dead.
I got love for my brother, but we can never go nowhere
unless we share with each other. We gotta start makin' changes.
Learn to see me as a brother 'stead of 2 distant strangers.
And that's how it's supposed to be.
How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me?
I'd love to go back to when we played as kids
but things changed, and that's the way it is

[Bridge w/ changing ad libs]
Come on come on
That's just the way it is
Things'll never be the same
That's just the way it is
aww yeah
[Repeat]

I see no changes. All I see is racist faces.
Misplaced hate makes disgrace for races we under.
I wonder what it takes to make this one better place...
let's erase the wasted.
Take the evil out the people, they'll be acting right.
'Cause mo' black than white is smokin' crack tonight.
And only time we chill is when we kill each other.
It takes skill to be real, time to heal each other.
And although it seems heaven sent,
we ain't ready to see a black President, uhh.
It ain't a secret don't conceal the fact...
the penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks.
But some things will never change.
Try to show another way, but they stayin' in the dope game.
Now tell me what's a mother to do?
Bein' real don't appeal to the brother in you.
You gotta operate the easy way.
"I made a G today" But you made it in a sleazy way.
Sellin' crack to the kids. "I gotta get paid,"
Well hey, well that's the way it is.

[Bridge]

[Talking:]
We gotta make a change...
It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes.
Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live
and let's change the way we treat each other.
You see the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do
what we gotta do, to survive.

And still I see no changes. Can't a brother get a little peace?
There's war on the streets & the war in the Middle East.
Instead of war on poverty,
they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me.
And I ain't never did a crime I ain't have to do.
But now I'm back with the facts givin' 'em back to you.
Don't let 'em jack you up, back you up, crack you up and pimp smack you up.
You gotta learn to hold ya own.
They get jealous when they see ya with ya mobile phone.
But tell the cops they can't touch this.
I don't trust this, when they try to rush I bust this.
That's the sound of my tune. You say it ain't cool, but mama didn't raise no fool.
And as long as I stay black, I gotta stay strapped & I never get to lay back.
'Cause I always got to worry 'bout the pay backs.
Some buck that I roughed up way back... comin' back after all these years.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat. That's the way it is. uhh

[Bridge 'til fade:]
Some things will never change

Freedom theme winner: Sekete Lesaoana

JOURNEY INTO A MOMENT
BY SEKETE LESAOANA

I search within the depths
Of my own to find
The grip of faith
Lost in the clinging tears
Of a black woman
Children halt frenzied expressions
Assert chasing dreams
Weary with moaning
Dusk till dawn
All in a moment
The woman
Infected by fear
Bed flooded with every tear
Couch drenched with her weeping
Sees damsel in distress
Grief wastes away eyes of her own
Sighs freed we are doomed
When at sunset
Matter of juvenile elections
Dreams are shuttered
Morals are scattered
Motives altered
Like birds they plucked
Pulse and rhythm not synchronized
Black woman weeping tears blood
It hit her
Her children drown in their own freedom
More than they learn to swim
©Sekete Lesaoana

Phenomenal woman- Maya Angelou

Phenomenal Woman: Maya Angelou


Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

AfroIvan Arts: Tshirts

I had the pleasure of collaborating on the AfroConscious journal (2010) project with artist, Ivan Muhambe. He is commonly known as Afro Ivan, this artis is based in Maputo, Mozambique. He contributed his art to the creation of the AfroConscious journal logo, and the art appearing on the back cover of the journal. He has the journals for sale if you are in that region. Price: 125 meticals
Ivan is presenting his quality t-shirts which feature his artwork. See attached image.



You can contact Ivan directly, he is on facebook, username: AfroIvan Arts.
Muito obrigado!