A cure for my Nervous Condition. An ode to my beloved African Continent and its People. Global pop culture. Sports. Movies. Fashion. Music. Gender. Race. Youth. Self and Communal Empowerment. Technology. Nonsense. Anything insightful or otherwise that I think you will enjoy ;}
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AMASHIWI
"Culture is the heritage of us all. some may be more interested than others in the treasures of the past, but no one can fail to take a pride in his country's participation in the story of mankind, as represented in carvings, sculpture, music, paintings and the other arts. And there is a personal commitment to this, for no man can really say he is alone: we are all joined through our identity, with the cultures which are part of the mainstream of life"
- Simon Kapwepwe, Zambian Independence Freedom Fighter
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm"- Winston Churchill
"Try to be the rainbow in someone else's cloud"- Maya Angelou
"Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinion drown out your inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition"- Steve Jobs
Sundown, Siavonga aboard the
Southern Belle, Easter 2013
I spent last Easter on the Southern Belle, Protea's Hotel Boat on Lake Kariba in Siavonga. I enjoyed a coupla sunsets on the water downing some rather tasty rainbow coloured sundowner cocktails. This year, to tempt me to make the trip down again on Easter weekend is the Siavonga Music Festival.
On Saturday, the Festival organisers gave us a taste of what is in store with a preview of some of their acts at Arcades Mall in Lusaka, including the classic Zed sound of recent Zambian Music Award winner Mumba Yachi, and Cactus Agony, an artist whom I have featured on the blog before. The only disappointment was not getting a taste of what Pompi has in store, another artist already featured on the blog.
Enjoy a song each from each of these artists and for more information about the Siavonga Music Festival in April, visit their website and for more Zed Music check out the music and African music and tag on MbA:
I was watching Oprah visiting India and meeting with Deepak Chopra when as they greeted each other he welcomed her to the motherland. Huh? What the....???????!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought to myself, dost my ears deceive me?
Emmmmmmmmmm, CORRECTION! There is only one motherland! Where it all begun. On THE continent. Yep that is right AFRICA....THE ORIGINAL and ONLY MOTHERLAND!
There I was thinking I had educated y'all on this. In Deepak Chopra's defence he had made that error long before I blogged about Africa being the continent last month and clearly before this post, otherwise I wouldn't be writing it. Well I would eventually but not inspired by this happenstance. Why is Africa THE motherland? For those of you who weren't born on African soil or have never been afforded the privilege of disembarking a plane and experiencing her warm, welcoming, comforting, soulful embrace, let me enlighten you...
Life began in Africa. Evidence is repeatedly found in beautifully majestic places like this. Near sources of water with nearby caves. And just look at how verdant and lush the landscape is. Africa nourishes. If that is not motherly I have no idea what is!
Africa is home to the largest land animal, the elephant. Elephants live in a matriarchal society. And even though patriarchy exists in Africa, I challenge you to argue with an elephant and come out alive. It's more likely you will be stampeded. Elephants know all as they never forget. I rest my case.
Whenever something bad in the world happens in movies, particularly some sort of Armageddon, Africa is protected somehow. We are happily overlooked and therefore spared. People always know if they can get to the continent in time, they can start anew. We are protected by the continent that is the source of life. Obliterate the continent, obliterate life!
Wolverine is protected by his Adimantium skeleton, a metal found on the continent. Mothers protect so that you land safely. Wolverine gets into so much ish, especially as he lives through the ages, and the motherland has ensured he is better equipped to live his many lives. Btw, ignore the portrayal of Lagos and rural Nigeria in the movie for your own sanity so you can enjoy this marvel (yes I did he he he ;}). And don't throw Kryptonite falling on the continent and being Superman's Achilles heel to refute this claim. Kryptonite fell on African soil so it could be safe-guarded. It is stolen by Lex Luther according to the Christopher Reeves version film. See - the motherland protects, but what can you do when a psycho comes and pillages?!
To be further enlightened, read Part 1 and enjoy these two songs that further illustrate why Africa is THE continent and THE motherland ;}
During the last Startup Hour, I had a chat with Head Honcho of the Black Rabbit Agency Muya and even though we have met up regularly during this monthly networking Happy Hour, I still have much to discover about this multi-talented Zed Creative.
I found out that one of his projects is the music magazine Music Xtra. The goal is to have this be the industry's go to trade magazine to find out what is going on in the business, the current trends, new developments and future possibilities. I was impressed by the content in the current issue which covers everything from the failiure of the new hologram system introduced to curb piracy of local artists' albums and to encourage fans to by authentic CDs, to artist interviews and articles and information about traditional drums explaining the relationship between the 3 types that form the ing'oma ensemble: the ichibitiku provides the lead drum beat that the sensele then complements and brings in the itumba the big drum.
Here are the tweets included in the mag that illustrate the issues facing the Zambian Music scene as well as praise voiced by artists, producers, media personalities and music fans:
Zambian artists need to realize their worth.... You can't perform for $100 you gat bills to pay #RespectLocal
— BOWSS LADY (@MutaleMwanza) October 13, 2013
A big shout to all Zed musicians teaching values&morals of a good society,building a prosperous Zambia,We need more of that type of music!
— Patience Chisanga (@AtienceZambia) November 17, 2013
The way my music is being appreciated in papua new guinea has mesmerized me,,,my journey in music is for a purpose#GodIsGud#
— mampi mukape (@mampiliciousme) November 13, 2013
If your going to host a 'big boy' make the 'local boys' a priority atleast. Show them that their input is as necessary as the 'big boy's.
— Slapdee (@slapdee) October 13, 2013
You Don't promote your Music! No 1 Knows you
and Yet you Campaign to Be Nominated (Zma)
ati .Nominate as Best New... http://t.co/hITrtpikPq
— TC MASTERMIND (@TCMASTERMIND) November 26, 2013
Kumvela Ni Mvela prolly lasted this long because EVERYBODY relates. even kids not yet born will relate. It is the best track EVER.
— Justin Bieber (@JustiinB13berr) November 22, 2013
I am excited to see how this magazine grows. You can connect with Music Xtra on Facebook and Twitter and find out where you can get a copy of their magazine.
Part 1 of Roar Festival post includes recounting of Launch and insight into Barefeet Theatre.
Apart from witnessing a great funeral, the Lioness Concert finale at UNZA Goma Lakes was the perfect way to cap off a great festival experience. I cannot do the night justice retrospectively with words methinks. Good thing I tweeted and took video with my digicam and so that is what I will use to chronicle the night :).
Yesterday I was on the brink of a nervous breakdown as my professional and personal life seemed to be blurring in very disturbing and discomforting ways. My mind is a terrible place to get lost in when my soul is morose and my spirit is flagging. To help myself along, I posted this image on Facebook, laughed at the attempted typo correction, then decided to take the rest of the day off as it indicated that only men were meant to be working. Yes I can twist anything to my benefit when needed.
With so many things up in the air, and unsatisfactorily so, I thought it best to forensically sift through my thoughts and feelings to root out the evil and get back on track. Last week I blogged about maintaining the happiness inside while making sure it reflects outwardly too, and so need to keep honouring that. So here is what I came to realise:
I am a giant killer! I am David out to conquer her Goliaths. Great things come in small packages ;}
I am fearless and this fuels my persistence. I will never give up, I will find that rainbow and ride it till I get my gold: I am looking for more than just money, I need meaning to be truly content. My journey may take a little longer but I WILL GET THERE!
I can auction a goat that doesn't want to be sold even after tries to run away then jumps and bites me in efforts to escape. That's some serious skill!
Was asked last minute to help with an auction to raise money for Chibolya Clinic to service 35,000 people with no immediate access to healthcare. Check out Empowerment Zambia
We all have been blessed with the power within to be our own hero, to fight our fights and to keep going, even when things are hard.
I am truly blessed with women in my life, old and new, who are there for me to rant, to be vulnerable, to encourage me when I doubt myself, and support me no matter what. Communion with women I have found gets harder as one gets older. Glad that the ones in my life aren't the kind that secretly hate you and are friends with you so they can feel better about themselves, or want minions to follow them and worship them. My friends are invested in my happiness as much as I am in theirs. A lot of my friends live scattered across the world, mainly elsewhere in Africa, Europe and the US so having a group here to support me so selflessly is really special.
I have found community on and offline through people like Mwanabibi, Lwanga and MissBwalya, online forums like Zedian Naturals (sorry closed Facebook Group, but if you have natural hair and are thinking of transitioning, let me know on Facebook and I can request for you to join) and Insaka Chat, and have found my creative niche through a collaboration with fellow entrepreneurial creatives through Project Cascade: check out #ProjCascade.
All the men in my life, most of whom I happen to be collaborating with on this project, treat me as an equal, respect my opinions and are such gentlemen. They express their indignation when the misogyny, chauvanism and sexual harrassment that comes with it, rear their ugly head in my life and in others. As my father says: never be a lesser woman because of a weak man. They never ask me to be anything other than myself and for this I am eternally grateful. To the men in Zambia who chose to act like $"#@*&s:
After remembering all of this I said to myself quiet little one quiet! Hush, all is well :) Hope this little sojourn through my thought process to keep my optimism afloat helps you too...
As you can see I spent a lot of time in the bundus.
This was my first day of shooting in Kalomo,
Southern Province, Zambia.
Though I did make a quick post in January, Happy New Year for the blog always starts with the Top 10 of the year before. So Happy New Year seeing as I don't really believe in new year starting on the 1st of January coz sometimes you just aren't ready. This year I had a lot more to contend with. Finally got traction in my professional life and got more than I bargained for, so from November 2012 to March 2013 I was somewhere in 8 of the 10 provinces in Zambia researching, script-writing and filming the Today with Zamtel show. After that was working on my documentary film project, then I went on a social media break and then I fell ill. So forgive me he he he he ;}.
Yes traditionally things commence anew in January but let's face it, some of us are not organised enough to be ready to start afresh when the Gregorian calender dictates, and seeing as this blog's new year technically is in May, as it was founded in that month in 2010, starting when ready has become a bit of a (bad?) habit. Last year we (yes I am using the Royal we) were together by February and what I said then still rings true now: It's not when you start, it's the starting that's important.
Luckily I am recovering well and can get back into the swing of things and get back writing for me not for anyone else. So without further ado here are the Top 10 Posts of 2012 with my favouritest first of course:
Check out the two MUNTUs I was able to post about too: Duncan and Towani.
I like the fact that most of these posts are Zambian themed. I think this marks me finally becoming connected with my national identity after decades of feeling constantly on the fringe, never really able to find my place in my country's society. YAY! I write this while also having a crisis of faith as I ponder moving to South Africa to be more creatively free. What would life be if there weren't such conundrums to torture one's soul...
As promised, here is the 3-4-10 post of music that defies the laws of time, polychronic in nature: timeless due to the artists' refusal to be limited by the Zeitgeist to produce music that is ever present in the past, the now and the tomorrows to come. List is in no particular order, all these songs are dope yo! (For more music explore the Music and African Music tags ) Enjoy! :)
Top 3 songs right now:
1. Bruno Mars - Locked up
2. PSY - Gangnam Style
3. Contolola - Zone Fam
Top 4 African songs:
1. EME ft. WizKid - Dance For Me
2. Pompi - Packaging
3. Emeli Sande - My Kind of Love
4. Fuse - Azonto
10 songs from the past? present? future?
1. TIV ft Vector & Proverb - Komole
2. E-Sir ft Nameless - Boomba Train
3. Olly Murs - Dance With Me Tonight
4. African Connection - Ami Oh
5. Cactus Agony - Bush territory
6. Ed Sheeran - You Need Me, I Don't Need You (True Tiger Remix ft Dot Rotten & Scrufizer)
In October, I attended my first TopFloor Public Discussion Forum. The theme was "Zambian Cultural Identity" and featured insightful discussion lead by presentations from Ms Mulenga Kapwepwe, my Zambian girl crush, and University of Zambia, UNZA, Professor Mubanga Kashoki. The debate was framed around: "What is Zambia's cultural identity? What influence does Zambia's cultural identity have on business practices? What defines culture: Language? Dress? Protocol? What influence do these cultural indicators have on individual careers and business conduct? What are the hindrances? What cultural elements need to be emphasised? Managed? Changed?" What came out of the discussion was the importance of our concept of time, and how much that affects the legacy colonisation left us with: the disjuncture with our polychronic, historically fluid perception of time that is in constant battle with the monochronic, fixed, unidirectional notion that British brought with them .
Over the next month, I have realised, even though I may have spent two thirds of my life in the West, in countries that operate monochronically, you can't take the African, the polychronic, out of me he he he. Used it when I was over there with time difference to buy time or complain that I had lost it. And now I really take advantage, particularly when operating with the USA, as I am half a day ahead, so can always stretch time out - when I don't get something done in my time, I go back in time and make sure it is done by the time it's that time half way across the world. Also have to be aware that some people are ahead of time, like when working with my current collaboration partner from C1rca 1964, who is based in Australia.
I recently commented on Facebook that you can't operate on the continent if you cannot operate polychronically. Now that I am working with the National Arts Council of Zambia, with a bunch of creatives to boot, I have been stretching time and having people stretch mine back. As Ms Kapwepwe pointed out, in Indonesia they go so far as to call it rubber time. The important thing is to get whatever it is done, worrying about the time wastes just wastes more time. And sometimes deadlines can just be stressful. Life is not linear, it never goes in a straight line: sometimes it goes off on a tangent, it gets a little wiggly, or just goes round and round and comes back to the place you started. So time should accommodate that. I am a much happier person since I ditched the 9-5 model and now work anytime between 9am and 2am everyday, take naps when I need to and am flexible enough to meet anyone, any place, and work for whomever, anywhere, thanks to the beauty of the Internet. I am physically static but virtually limitless!
However, what I don't like about the polychronic nature, and of Zambians in particular, is that they don't distiguish between stretching time and not respecting other people's time. I always believe that you should do what you do with your time to yourself, but respect that others may be different. As I say Don't waste my time, it is not your time to waste. There is a difference between just being late coz you can't be bothered versus being overextended, stuck in traffic or stretching the hours to fit everything into the day. Sometimes Zambians take advantage of APT (African People's Time) aka CPT (Coloured Peoples Time) and turn up hours late for things for no apparent and then expect to be accommodated, huffing and puffing, causing more harm than good.
This new understanding of time has also helped a lot with understanding my concept of African style. Creativity is not linear either. You need to be able to dip into the past, be rooted in the present and be flying in the skies of the future to truly tap into that energy and be creative. Something can be new and old the same time e.g. same cut, different chitenge print. Or how my earrings are in-style without following trends and can follow traditions while adding new creativity. Everything is always in if you rock it :). It's the same with music we make - it can never be placed to a particular year or decade, it can be attached to a place but not to a time. Recently I have been particularly dispassionate about American music. It is so cookie cutter and people keep churning out songs just be be relevant and not to produce something new. The videos are all the same, and there are forever naked women, all trying to pass versions of nudity off as stylish and original. I'm really quite bored and disaffected. Even talented people like Alicia Keys and Christina Aguilera seemed to have plateaued and/or worse plummetted into mediocrity with regards to song quality.
I like the electronic and dance sound coming from Europe, and Afro-pop continues to hit the spot, with the Nigerians leading the way. I have also been leaning towards doo-wop 60s type songs like Olly Murs's last two singles, but the song that really brought this out is Bruno Mars' "Locked Up". It has touched my soul in such a way because it sounds so old, yet so fresh, and will continue to do that because of how genius it is. Same with PSY's Gangnam Style: reminiscent of the one hit wonders of the 90s like Macarena and Saturday Night but really original, futuristic and ultimately timeless. I have also been discovering a lot of African music and thinking it's new, only to find out it was released years ago, and rediscovering old stuff too. So I leave you with a promise that I will make a 3-4-10 post of music that defies the laws of time, polychronic in nature, and therefore timeless due to their refusal to be limited by the Zeitgeist and ever present in the past, the now and the tomorrows to come.
Me flying like the youthful Zed Nkwazi (eagle) I am over the Mosi-Oa-Tunya aka
Vic Falls, Livingstone. That flimsy contraption aka microlight was the one of
best and worst experiences of my life!
Today marks Zambia's 48th year of Independence from the British Empire, and the day it changed it's name from Northern Rhodesia to Zambia. It was the 9th African state to free itself from it's colonial power. Did you know that it was almost called Zambezia, (after the Zambezi river, 4th longest river in Africa and the water that creates the Mosi-Oa-Tunya: The Smoke that Thunders aka Victoria Falls), which is now the name of a Hollywood CGI animated film starring the voice talents of Samuel L. Jackson set at the Falls and is of course about animals! There's a random nugget of useless knowledge for you. Another less useless and more interesting nugget, (I hope), is that we have 19 national parks, the largest is Kafue: it is the size of Wales and is the second largest in Africa. And today is Pele's birthday too, no wonder we are football crazy!
Our country is still young, and though we started off well, being one of the richest countries in Africa in the 1970s thanks to our copper and our first President, Kenneth Kaunda, investing in education and providing youth with educational opportunities around the world, and coupled with them repatriating to bring the skills they had learnt abroad back home, we have now done a 360. Many of our educated have flown the coup, and there are no longer the ready opportunities our parents enjoyed. However, instead of being pessimistic, nihilistic and Oscar the Grouch about our situation like this dude who glibly and speciously wrote a piece titled Zambia's 48 years of dependency, how about looking at why we have regressed/ stagnated and how to move forward? I really can't stand people who whine and complain and offer nothing to rectify the situation. They just want to stew in the smell emanating from the poop they are talking about and watch as the stench chokes the hope and optimism out of people. That is not patriotic. Patriotism is love for one's country, and sometimes it has to be tough through constructive criticism that aims to foster and catalyse positive change through progress. Listing all our problems is not criticism, it's compiling a list. Not looking at what is working means that that list is incomplete, unbalanced and negatively skewed. Not seeing the potential that exists in so many areas of society, culture, business and development here in Zambia is short-sighted and unpatriotic. You should want to improve what is wrong with your country, not just point and cackle and watch as it goes down in flames because if we are a Christian country, that is what Jesus would do - he'd step up man! More on that in Part I, where you can also find links to Zambian blogs written by people who actually love their country and are proud to hail from it. Clearly this dude falls in the former category I was talking about :(. If he wants to talk about how our issues and what we can do to fix them, he should have a chat with this dude: This is how you write an Independence post that challenges the status quo while hoping for a better future and wishing the country well!
What I wish for my country over the next two years leading up to our 50th anniversary is the potential of our youth to be realised. We are going through a renaissance that is evident in other African countries too. We can see youth leading through mobile technology in East Africa, particularly Kenya with Ushaidi that is now the go-to global platform for emergency and disaster reportage and has gone beyond that with out very own girls here in Zambia using it to map out all the female tech orgs on the continent. Or how about those Ugandan med students that figured out a way to do ultrasounds with a basic mobile phone and our West African friends who are leading the way by culturally embracing their Africaness creatively with fashion, music, tv and film? Or our North African brothers and sisters who used social media and protests to enact political and social change? Or how about here in the South - former war-torn countries like Angola and Mozambique are moving on up the development scale quicker than you can say what I just wrote peacefully? And how about the youth that comprise our national team stepping up in Gabon and winning AFCON, realising the weight on their shoulders and stepping up to ensure this momentous event in our history occurred. Today we will forget how they have haphazardly performed since he he he he. We shall remember again tomorrow though...
Zambian youth have a lot to offer, they want to improve themselves and they believe they can do it on their own soil. Unlike the troll who wrote that article, they are optimistic despite what seem like insurmountable problems. They may have been disappointed that what they voted for last year has not come into fruition, but every day I hear of some enterprising youngun looking for a scholarship, starting a small business to get them through school and trying to find a way to make their mark by improving themselves. We need to encourage these kids, not give them reasons to give up hope and eschew optimism. We need to keep our future bright and hungry, like these guys who made a video of their rendition of our national anthem, proudly donning Zed football paraphernalia:
There have been times I have wanted to give up, to stay out in the West or defect to Kenya or South or Nigeria but I haven't because in the end ndi mwina Zed! I am a Mwana ba Afrika who is proudly Zambian. This is the time to be here, there is so much to be done and so many ways to make a life, to travel new paths and explore new possibilities. There are endless things to discover due to the diversity in ethnic groups and we can look at ourselves from other angles too: what does our national identity mean today, what is our role in SADC and and what do we offer to the African identity? We need to get rid of people like the dude who wrote the Watchdog piece, looking to outside with rose-coloured glasses, ignoring the fact that Europe and the USA are going through a serious financial crisis that has made many of their people instantly poor and that many are struggling too. Like I have said, no one has THE answer, the magic pill, the silver bullet. There is nothing I hate more than a colonised mind. I wonder if he has ever left the country. Having spent the best part of 2/3 of my life in the West, from what I can see, things are not necessarily always better, just different. Different climate, different cultures, different peoples, different priorities that bear different problems and solutions. But we have many similarities too - we are all trying to make our worlds better, and sometimes we make them worse. We are all flawed and WE ALL HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR GREATNESS IN OUR OWN WAYS. What we need to do here in Zambia is stop looking outside for answers, but look within, because they are there for the taking! We need to take contolol! I leave you with two songs: one by Cactus Agony that I just love because it is such a patriotic song with soul and profound insight into who we are and how confused we are as a nation and what we can do to rise up and take control of our Zambian identity and the other is my favourite song right now, and the best song that Zone Fam has done in my eyes that is Proudly Zambian in every shape and form. It's a party-starter and today is a day of celebration :)
Actually before I do that...
One Zambia, One Nation! Nafuti Nafuti! Donchi Kubeba! Whether we are governed by UNIP, MMD , PF or who knows in the future, what is important is that we as a people band together and rise up as a nation, become great again and soar proudly like the eagles we will always be, coz don't tell anyone, Zambians are on the move baby! Ummm yes I made sure that all the colours of our flag are in this post and talked about eagles to make sure that element of the flag is included as well he he he...Okay I'm done ;}
No I'm not he he he. Added a new tag and theme to the blog: Y Zed ie. Young Zambia. To kick off I have added a new section on the right-hand side with links to Zambian websites and blogs belonging to Zed youth. And check out my views on Zambia over the years he he he he.
This interview was conducted in July 2011. I have not posted it because 1. I am useless and 2. I also I needed a segment of video edited and did not have the tools on my computer to do so he he he, which further enabled my procrastination. This is the first male MUNTU, and I must say I could not have picked a better specimen to kick-off representation of Zed dudes.
Nationality/ies:Zambian
Age: 30 Countries you have lived and studied in:Zambia, South Africa African countries you have visited: Botswana, Malawi, Zimbabwe
Education:Diploma in Information
Management, Institute for Management For Information Systems, (IMIS)
Profession(s): Record Label CEO and Manager of Zone Fam, Compliance Officer for a Pension Fund
Personal Interests: Music, Art, Poetry,
Community Work, Youth Empowerment
Muntu means person in
the tongue of Mwana ba Afrika’s mothers before her. As an acronym it stands for:
Man (because I am male)
Under
National
Trust
and
Urbanisation
This is how I see myself and Zambia at the moment. I trying to bring something new and hip to the
table while serving my people at the same time.
Describe yourself in 3
words, list 4 things you that make you happy and describe Africa in 10 words.
3: Ambitious, Understanding,
Personable.
4: Interacting with and making people happy. Spending time with Family. Achieving something,
particularly when people say I can’t gives me great satisfaction. Reconnecting with old friends, like I am with you
right now.
10: Potentially the new
world. Challenged internally but destined for greatness.
Recommend 3 websites,
blogs and/ or books, 4 movies and/ or series and 10 songs and/ or music videos.
3: Of course I have to promote
my own site: sdrtv.com. From there you
can visit the other sites and blogs I’m affiliated with.
MS TV ran by artist Mufasa Shulizee keeps me up-to-date with music
from Zed and Africa to stuff coming outof
the US.
Letters to a Young Sister by Hill Harper
Everything he talks about in this book is what people
should look up to and be inspired by regardless of their gender.
4: Heroes: get the whole DVD
set, it is an amazing series. I am an
Anime fan, if I had to pick one film it would be Narutu. I enjoyed the Hollywood film 10000 BC, it was
funny and epic. The Lost Boys is a great vampire flick.
He is a Zambian rapper who grew up in Zimbabwe and is based in
South Africa. This release was controversial as it talks about
kicking out the oppressor. The video showed on Etv and SABC and within a month there were
complaints. It went to court and it was
banned!
3. Thula by Young N9ne
This Zambian
singer/ rapper is based in the USA and really talented girl. This is the first song I heard and it’s still
my favourite from her.
4. Dear Future by Dope G ft Holstar and produced by Tekzilla.
What have you or do
you contribute to Zambia’s development economically, politically and/ or
socially?
Duncan and his hip hop group Zone Fam
I have been especially dedicated to developing, cultivating
and showcasing hip hop music in Zambia. We have come from a point where in 2004-5
there was no one listening to us, instead they were choosing to listen to
international acts. We only had one show
on Zed radio playing locally produced stuff, now we have 5 or 6 shows across
stations dedicated to this genre of music.
I have also made sure to be a part of many of the organisations that
have helped to bring this about. I want
to give a voice to those that wouldn’t otherwise be heard. I promote whatever I can in the hopes they get the
platform to showcase their talent that they wouldn’t have otherwise gotten.
I worked in youth media, in the sound engineering department
for the radio show TrendSetters that has now evolved into the multimedia group Media
365. I also worked for Bwafano
Home-based Care for HIV/AIDS in Chazanga Compound in Lusaka. They are the lifeline for 17,000 orphans. It was a great experience as it brought home
the effect this pandemic has had on our future, and fulfilling as I could see
that we are taking steps to deal with the situation.
What do you think is
special about being an African man?
When you walk into a room you immediately either intimidate
or are labelled. You usually don’t turn
out to be what people think you are. I
could be rich or poor, a criminal or a good guy.
We are always under- or overestimated so there is that element of
surprise.
I personally think the African man symbolises strength and
not in the just in stereotypical physical sense of being able to keep a
family safe from dangers and raising a proud family.
What do African men
need to improve and how?
We need to learn how to work together more and network amongst
ourselves. We need to lessen the burden
that African women have to bear in the family, the homestead. This is more than just providing the money
for food. We will be making huge strides even if it is something simple such as
taking just one thing off her list of things to do.
What do you think is
special about the African woman?
I defer to a poem I wrote called African Woman credited under
my alias Holstar:
What do African women
need to improve and how?
Zambian woman have a harder time working together because of
some of the constraints in society right now. They need to find a way to rise up and stop
being subservient. They should see themselves as equals they already are to
African men and take charge as ultimately they are the heads of the household
and in-charge of the daily activities of the family. I will say there are women are getting
educated and/ or coming back home from abroad and taking care of business here
in Zambia, but there is still much room for improvement.
What role do the
African diaspora and the global community have to play in the continent’s
development and identity?
Both have a huge role to play. Sharing our diverse African
culture with the international community and preserving it is what we on the
continent need to do. In a way our
culture is seen to be dying out. We need to be at the forefront showing that it
is very much alive, it is evolving and it deserves a more prominent and
respected place on the global stage.
Sometimes it feels like the diaspora is not doing enough for
example how BET did not air the best African act this year (2011)! Yes you gave
the award but we want to see the win as that means something.
Are you satisfied with the way Zambia and Africa are portrayed in the
media to the world?
No, it’s a bit better these
days but like I said no, I am not satisfied. They
don’t show the good things and the major advancements that are taking place
here and in Africa. Most us are still
considered 3rd world and we need to show our achievements to move
forward, especially in the tech field, as well as socially and in the medical
field. Even with HIV/ AIDS. There are
huge advancements that aren’t shown, such as how in Zambia we have brought down
the amount of new infections considerably.
3 Places and/ or Things That Make Zambia Special
4 Things Duncan has Learnt From
Like this interview? Check out the other MUNTUs :). For more of Duncan's poetic and musical side, check out this post.
