Verbal Emancipation

Blessed, I was lucky enough to be invited to Verbal Emancipation, a multi-talent showcase event where Maru A Pula high school students shared poems, raps,songs and drama pieces centered around the theme, "What Is It To Be Human?". It was a chance for MaP students who might otherwise be too scared to take to the stage to showcase some of their hidden talents and original pieces - as well as an opportunity to learn from outside performers (be they budding stars, professionals or amateurs). There was a great energy in Maitisong with the audience (mostly MaP students with a few parents)very excited and ready to be entertained. The performers were energetic and keen to put on a show. I am young enough to remember the thrill of watching my peers have their moment in the spotlight, and old enough to know that there is more to creativity and self expression than having "swag". High-school is very much about rebellion and fitting in, finding yourself and letting go. We can't help but compare note on experiences and emotions and try to gauge where we belong in our social landscape. I am thrilled that the students took to poetry, rap, singing and other creative forms of expressing themselves. My only gripe is that a lot of the material seemed to be inspired by 'the Bronx' more than Botswana. I know we are bombarded by music videos and TV shows and albums and interviews by people a thousand kilometres away and it's difficult to ignore. I implore local rappers, singers and poets to reach higher and reach out to our youth so that we may develop a truly local culture of spoken and musical self-expression. A lot of the poetry and spoken words events hosted in Gaborone are during weekdays and exclude a younger audience who have school commitments. We need to bridge the age gap and inspire one another within our immediate environment, only then will we make art true to ourselves. Congratulations to the Maru a Pula team on hosting a well attended, mind stimulating event. Hope to see more where that came from!

Morwa: The Rising Son By Tefo Paya

Blessed, As part of the Maitisong Festival 2013 Tefo Paya presented his self-written show, "Morwa, The Rising Son". The one-man show is centred around ideas of the masculinity, the modern male identity, rites of passage, and how masculinity interacts with other social and political spheres. The play was intense, humorous, awkward and insightful. For some reason I was always under the impression that boys and men were as certain of themselves as the world was of them. How wrong I was. Paya's play enlightened me to the doubt, uncertainty, expectations and reality of being a man. He manages to bring a very human touch to a hugely intimidating subject matter and I left with a brand new perspective of my male counterparts. I have often thought to myself that men are just as trapped by the impositions of patriarchy as women are, they have to be strong, successful, confident, secure, sexy. This play tried to debunk those myths and show just how tricky being a 'real man' can be. From complex relationships with father figures, childhood obsession with superheroes and their out of this world strength to the awkwardness of puberty and dealing with girls, idolizing 'rap masculinity' and finally confronting the true terror of being a modern man. He brought to light how role models varying from Superman to Snoop Dogg create unrealistic expectations for young men and how each man must navigate his way down his own path until he arrives at the Man he truly wants to be. Many congratulations to Tefo on the success of his play, can't wait to see what he's got up his sleeves next! You're the Man!