BELOW is Black Trial, a poem by legendary philosopher Ingoapele Madingoane, pictured, one of 43 featured artists on the omnibus, Band of Troubadours, a South African Literary Awards legacy project:
BELOW is Black Trial, a poem by legendary philosopher Ingoapele Madingoane, pictured, one of 43 featured artists on the omnibus, Band of Troubadours, a South African Literary Awards legacy project:
little hector died and africa went on mourning
for the other three ongopotse mapetla and bantu biko
not forgetting
the others as they said
ancestors of africa
fulanis of nigeria jies of uganda
easafrican mbutis abantus tirikis
you've taken away from us
the spirits of your power
as ancestors of africa
nigeria uganda congo & liberia
leaders have emerged without power
sufficient
to help africa shake off this burden
ancestors of africa
the strumming of tabane
the emphasis of bebyi
traditional cowhide sounds
from thobejane's african drums
medupe's meditations might have been
enough music and message
in the service of all men
ancestors of africa
ancestors of africa oh hear our cries
the rivers and valleys have turned red
fields and bushes have gone bare
while you went to ask
for a permit
tarzan was trekking our bases
ancestors of africa
your black gold has gone
colourful ancestors of africa
ancestors of africa oh hear our cries
in the heart of africa
africans shall meet as one
and africa uta swemakiswahili
to seal the african bond before i die
how i long to be there
in that part of you africa
to drink from the calabash
umuthi we nkululeko before i die
how i long to be there africa
where all of africa shall dance marabi
from the beat malombo
while elders drink pombe
from ikhamba eligayiwe o-makoti be-sizwe
before i die
how i long africa
to see strong warriors singing and chanting
songs of expectation
on the african soil
i would be so glad if i too was one before i die
how i long to be loved africa
by that african woman in africa
as lonely as the river nile
in the blazing sahara desert
waiting for the man of her heart
to slip on that cane-made ring
on the finger that points out the path to our future
before i die
how i long africa
o swema kiswahili
to appear african as africa
to have with me a family to love
i will be glad that i am black before i die"
lMadingoane, who was born in 1940 and died in 1998, was given a South African Literary Awards' Literary Posthumous Award in 2007. He is best remembered for the mini epic, Africa My Beginning. It was published by Ravan Press in 1979 and banned by the racist Nationalist Party regime soon thereafter.
A voice from the past
BELOW is Black Trial, a poem by legendary philosopher Ingoapele Madingoane, pictured, one of 43 featured artists on the omnibus, Band of Troubadours, a South African Literary Awards legacy project:
BELOW is Black Trial, a poem by legendary philosopher Ingoapele Madingoane, pictured, one of 43 featured artists on the omnibus, Band of Troubadours, a South African Literary Awards legacy project:
little hector died and africa went on mourning
for the other three ongopotse mapetla and bantu biko
not forgetting
the others as they said
ancestors of africa
fulanis of nigeria jies of uganda
easafrican mbutis abantus tirikis
you've taken away from us
the spirits of your power
as ancestors of africa
nigeria uganda congo & liberia
leaders have emerged without power
sufficient
to help africa shake off this burden
ancestors of africa
the strumming of tabane
the emphasis of bebyi
traditional cowhide sounds
from thobejane's african drums
medupe's meditations might have been
enough music and message
in the service of all men
ancestors of africa
ancestors of africa oh hear our cries
the rivers and valleys have turned red
fields and bushes have gone bare
while you went to ask
for a permit
tarzan was trekking our bases
ancestors of africa
your black gold has gone
colourful ancestors of africa
ancestors of africa oh hear our cries
in the heart of africa
africans shall meet as one
and africa uta swemakiswahili
to seal the african bond before i die
how i long to be there
in that part of you africa
to drink from the calabash
umuthi we nkululeko before i die
how i long to be there africa
where all of africa shall dance marabi
from the beat malombo
while elders drink pombe
from ikhamba eligayiwe o-makoti be-sizwe
before i die
how i long africa
to see strong warriors singing and chanting
songs of expectation
on the african soil
i would be so glad if i too was one before i die
how i long to be loved africa
by that african woman in africa
as lonely as the river nile
in the blazing sahara desert
waiting for the man of her heart
to slip on that cane-made ring
on the finger that points out the path to our future
before i die
how i long africa
o swema kiswahili
to appear african as africa
to have with me a family to love
i will be glad that i am black before i die"
lMadingoane, who was born in 1940 and died in 1998, was given a South African Literary Awards' Literary Posthumous Award in 2007. He is best remembered for the mini epic, Africa My Beginning. It was published by Ravan Press in 1979 and banned by the racist Nationalist Party regime soon thereafter.
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