Two Generations of Poetry & Activism in South Africa
Tuesday, June 16th
6:00pm - 8:00pm
In honor of the DAY OF THE AFRICAN CHILD, which honors the anniversary of the 1976 Soweto protests, when thousands of schoolchildren took to the streets under the South African apartheid regime. It is also a time to reflect on the progress towards health, education and human rights for all children across the continent.
“To assert one’s creativity is to assert one’s humanity… that is a premise I have acted on all my life and it is the premise I have offered others as an inspiration.” - Dennis Brutus
Featuring Comrade Fatso, Dennis Brutus, Poets Femi "Thedrifish," Marc Marcel and Mary. Hosted by Elen Awalom and Akenji Ndumu with support from Split This Rock Poetry Festival, Haymarket Books, Trans Africa Forum, Africa Action and Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies.
All are welcome-- no cover charge, though a donation basket will be passed during the evening. All proceeds to support an African poetry delegation at Split This Rock Poetry Festival (March of 2010).
Note: Dennis Brutus is currently recovering from prostate cancer and will not be able to join us in person, but he will join us live via a video link from South Africa. Complete details on facebook invite here. Info also on Busboys and Poets site here.
Dennis Brutus is a South African poet who was banned and imprisoned on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela and 1,000 others. He is the author of 12 books of poetry, including Poetry and Protest: A Dennis Brutus Reader and Still the Sirens. Comrade Fatso is Samm Farai Monro, one of the most explosive and controversial acts in South Africa today. Comrade Fatso calls his poetry Toyi Toyi Poetry, radical street poetry that mixes Shona with English and mbira with hip hop. It’s an art form that is an uprising against oppression.
Busboys and Poets, 14th & V St
Metro: U St
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