District 6 Museum...
... A 'Cape Cultural Collective' Event
feat. acts such as iKAPA Dance Theatre
Zula, People Under the Stairs Concert
... Event by KOL (Kool Out Lounge)
Mingus aka X Opening for PUTS
People Under The Stairs (PUTS) @ Zula
Yesterday Evening in Pictures
Why is it that in the ghetto, everybody gotta be running from something while in affluent areas people are always running for something?
–Half joking, half serious.
Running from drugs, gang violence, domestic abuse… The social ills of poverty.
Running for your health, running for office, running for a cause…
—This phrase came to me while I was walking from the CBD (passing through unemployment lines) to the coastal walking path at Sea Point where ipod clad and nike adorned upper-middle class professionals were enjoying their daily jogs…
I wish strange fruit only referred to the produce the street lady sells on the corner.
– Written while waiting for the bus in the CBD (city centre).Bruises like a banana, soft to the touch /
Baby girl, there was never a time I wanted to hold you so much
Thoughts of he, thoughts of she, thoughts of sadness /
Let me heal you with a lyrical ‘Touch of Madness’!
Wow. It’s amazing how hard it is sometimes to be yourself and find out what truly makes you happy in life. Lately, a series of conversations have reminded me of the power and importance of not only fighting for freedom but knowing what to do with it once you have it.
What’s your dream in life? How are you pursuing that passion?
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
-Mohandas Gandhi
Devilish forces fuckin up my black community /
And we ain’t doin no more interviews /
‘Til we get paid out the frame, like motherfuckin Donahue
This is verse from Gang Starr’s “Robin Hood Theory” song (Moment of Truth album) that keeps ringing in my brain whenever I am reminded of the rightful frustration a lot of South Africans both within and beyond the hip hop community have with foreign ‘researchers,’ scholars and documentarians who come to Cape Town looking for stories to analyze and record.
Still, I think it’s dangerous to paint all “outsiders” with the same brush or to underestimate what they might be able to bring to the table on the level of professional relations and even friendship.
Since I’ve been in Cape Town, jumping through all the hoops and rising to the challenge of the little tests that people have thrown my way, it’s been quite difficult to be clustered together with every other traveling academic and filmmaker who has left a negative impression on hard working hip hoppers in the local area.
In part, this is because I’m used to being situated on the other end of the racist, sexist, colonial paradigm that so many of the emcees and industry cats I interact with are skeptical of. Whether it was as the kid in class that everybody looks to for the “black” perspective on a Toni Morrison’s Beloved, or being viewed as a student of a “diverse” background who is supposed to represent the so-called melting pot of cultures and ethnicities on campus—I can’t count how many times I came home, drained of my energies because so many of my peers and intellectual colleagues would try to be a cultural tourist to my lived experiences as a working class woman of color in the United States. For this reason, the classroom could at times be as much of a site of oppression as it was a site of intellectual liberation for me.
With this in mind, everyday as I forge, develop and cultivate new relationships, I try to being even more conscientious about using a critical lens similar to that which I have continually turned towards peers in other arenas to evaluate and reevaluate my own actions and philosophies.
From Robin Hood Theory to my RAPtivism theory…
… There’s more to come.
Stay Tuned.
Ya gurl,
-A
No, I am not claiming that these one-sided exchanges that involve folks predominantly from Europe and America
The other day, I overheard some new visitors to South Africa talking about how difficult it was for them to learn about the history of apartheid after spending the day in the black township of Gugulethu. “It’s sad to think that our ancestors played such a big role in all of this [oppression]” one said. “Yeah, but we have to realize its not our fault” another said, “we can’t control what our ancestors did, ya know?” The way rest of their conversation unfolded, it was as if to say, “yeah, well, the past is the past, so we might as well get over it and move on.”
The rhetoric of these types of conversations about white guilt and what Peggy Mcintosh calls the “invisible knapsack of privilege” sounds all to similar to what I’ve heard among friends and colleagues in the US when talking about our history of colonization, racist/sexist oppression, segregation and slavery.
In that moment, I thought to myself: if I could put on my DJ cap right now and pull a song to speak to this conversation it’d be Swedish rapper Promoe’s “White Man’s Burden” (a song I heard about from Danish rapper and student of political science, Vakili).
Now hold on just there—I know what you might be thinking if you don’t know anything about Promoe: ‘White Man’s Burden’?? What kind of song is that?! But don’t be so quick to judge a book by it’s cover, a song by it’s title, or an artist by his dreads just yet—just check it out and, if you feel so inclined, share it with a friend.
For now, I’m just posting it in hopes that it can throw out some interesting food for thought for all you raptivists out there about our living history/histories!
You can also check out the lyrics here (they’re not quite on point, but it’s the closest version I could find).
Thanks & Peace,
Aisha
Always go for those who try to impress you the least.
– Insightful advice that has stuck with me from my one-on-one conversation/interview with widely respected and seasoned hip hop producer and entrepreneur, Jeppe Bisgaard (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Blaq Pearl
Chad Saaiman
Claire Phillips
Jean-Pierre aka JP
JP + Garth (JP & the all Elements Band)
A few photos from a breast cancer fundraiser at Zula Bar (Long Street, Cape Town) last Wednesday, the 28th of October, 2009.
Some of the artists featured in the photos include:
Blaq Pearl (http://www.blaqpearl.co.za/ orhttp://www.myspace.com/blaqpearlpro) who has such unique vocal sound that you can’t help but bop your head to.
Claire Phillips (http://www.myspace.com/clairephillipsza) who has an amazing sultury, pure vocal sound with a whole lot of soul.
Chad Saaiman, who has a soulful vibe that you can really groove to and a great stage presence (http://www.myspace.com/chadsaaimanmusicorhttp://stereotyperecords.co.za/artists/chad-saaiman/)
Jean-Pierre aka JP and the All Elements Band
Look out form on some of these artists later as I get a chance to meet up with them over the week…!
Home Sweet Home
I miss… I miss living in a place where there are no bars over the windows, no barbed wire around the place I call home, no gates keeping potential dangers outside while also locking me into solitary confinement from the world outside.
I miss the feeling of being able to walk out of the house each day without trying to determine if the shoes I’m wearing are good for running in case I need to get out of a bad situation quickly.
I’ve become used to I exchanging glances with people as we walk down the street I can sense that we are both checking each other out, with the realistic concern about potentially getting mugged or robbed by one another. Why do my people feel like they have to result to car jacking when they live in what is probably the richest continent in the world?
When so many people and so many resources have historically been exploited from this country, it’s no surprise that so many of the people I meet here test outsiders and sometimes lay into them before investing time in a worthwhile conversation.
Here in Cape Town, I feel like I’m constantly living life on the waves of my intuition: day by day, moment by moment, my actions are heavily dictated by what my senses tell me. —Is this a safe situation? Can this person to be trusted? Should I risk finding that unfamiliar spot in a rougher area such as Mitchell’s Plain or Woodstock on my own? What awaits me today if I choose to take the train instead of the bus? The combi taxi instead of an professional cab?
“This is not an easy place to live, but I can’t complain.” This is my response every time I get the generic question: “so are you enjoying your stay?”
One of my friends (an old community organizer and freedom fighter from apartheid) said to me one day—“Aisha, I truly believe that, in some way, you have come home.” Even though, at first, I wasn’t sure I could completely relate to what he was saying, I can’t get over the fact that for some odd reason, these words stuck with me; I keep rolling them over and over in my head like a smooth stone my mind’s hands: what does that mean? How is it I can relate to the idea that this place is indeed my home in some way that is not entirely clear to me yet? (Perhaps, even more than coincidentally, this is also the first place I’ve been in my life where being racially “mixed” or “multiracial” is the norm.)
Why do my friend’s words resonate with me so? How is it that I’ve learned to love and dislike this very complex, contradictory city at the same time? And why is it that already miss this place when I haven’t even left yet? — If I am indeed in some shape for form “home,” mama Africa, what is it that you want to realize here?
About Me
International Hip Hop Project..................................................
Logo by Sam Chasm
Brief Overview:
RAPTIVISM is an international hip hop project exploring rap and hip hop activism in Denmark, South Africa, India, the UK, Morocco and Senegal.
Mission:
Through this RAPTIVISM project, I seek to explore ways in which hip hop can build bridges between people of diverse backgrounds in order to contribute to goals for positive social change.
This project uses a critical lens to explore types of hip hop music and culture that challenge apathy, ignorance and intellectual oppression.
Documentation:
1) A not-for-profit compilation album made up of Aisha Fukushima's collaborative song writing efforts with talented rappers, producers, singers and musicians she meets along the way.
2) Documentary film footage, written blog posts and photo journalism that chronicle the experiences and conversations Aisha has along the way.
