Four decades later, post-apartheid South Africa barely recalls the Medu Art Ensemble’s contributions to the liberation struggle. But that could be changing.
The revered trombonist, composer and cultural activist never wished to be ‘the state composer’ but remained political until the end, in service of the people.
Keorapetse Kgositsile with US author Alice Walker, 1996.
Anacleto Rapping/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
A study of the late Keorapetse Kgositsile shows how the poet influenced black American culture. It also shows how his mother and his grandmother’s oral traditions in turn influenced him.
A group of leading black, queer and feminist academics held a colloquium to reconsider a seminal blackness studies text – offering new ways of thinking about the decolonial project.
A consideration of Cuban poet Nancy Morejón’s engagement with Keorapetse Kgositsile and her visits to South Africa – shed new light on her poetic practice.
Nelson Mandela’s legacy in poetry can re-familiarise us with the values he embodied.
EPA/Stringer