...as we embarked on Highway to Heaven/Paradise Road " a simple tale of colonial exploitation" ....

We took a leap of Faith and followed our heart to the Capital city of South Africa. Passion took us straight to Tshwane formerly known as Pretoria a place I remember as the capital city of apartheid, a place that I was taught to fight taught to FEAR. A place where all kinds of decisions are made, indawo esasiyibiza ngeculo "siyaya epitoli siyaya oh siyaya epitoli." A land so far away from my beginnings but where my birth was recorded, a land I could only dream about.

We carefully looked for Church street where we would meet our "blind date." Thank God for the gift of Vehicle as it became our easy legs in finding this once upon a time Church street now known as Helen Joseph street. God Bless her soul if only she knew that this Divine street would be named after her and that sightless angels would bodyguard it with unending melodies and begging tendencies.  

As we stepped out of a lift from the dark belly of Sammy Marks Sqr's  underground parking lot, we were greeted with an uncomfortable heat probably created by the large group of "darkies"  rushing to get the business of the day out of their way. Now that I think about it angikhumbuli ngibona ibala elimhlophana except for the mixed race woman who spoke fluent seTshwana and kicked her son from behind when He yelled "Mom wa'bora."
What an irony, here we were in the epicentre of white supremacy and we were struggling to identify "white" except for the architectural structure of the STATE THEATRE that stood strong and concrete as if there to keep time of times gone by.

Through all of this Bab' Alfred was on our minds as we knew that with him we would find solice. Haibo we weren't  expecting so many Bab Alfred's in one street. Many men and women with the same name "blind beggars". Some stand so they can be noticed, others sit so they can be pitied. Some  however simply just want to be saved so they do their best to be heard. They sing out loud a song of hope that things on the other side will get better in a place they like to call HOME where there shall be no more death, no more discrimination , no need for sight and insight, where they will find release.

From across the Helen Joseph street opposite Church square we hear our Divine appointment soothing our curiosity and letting us know that "hayo mathata Modimo hale teng." We rush to him with hope and for the first time in this life time I am released!!! Released from fear of being a street artist. The corner of Paul Kruger and former Church Street becomes my paradise as I harmonise to Bab Alfred's beautiful rendition of "hayo mathata." I feel a great sense of appreciation wash over me as people pass by and drop in 50cent coins into Bab Alfred's empty green camphor cream container. I forget about all the different performance spaces I have ever performed in and all the cheques I have impatiently waited for as I busk in the glory of nothingness. No fame , No borders, No fear just love pure love.
Bab' Alfred's lifeless eyes behind dark sunglasses look straight into my soul and awaken my Spirit. I am lost in love and soon I forget Pretoria and remember Humanity. I am re-baptised as an Artist and I feel born again.

After a hour and half of bliss we say our good byes and head straight to Randburg to continue with our mission of finding voices to speak with.

Bab' Martin whose veil covered eyes are full of life, greets us with the most amazing energy. We sit down with him and his wisdom puts us very quickly in our place. We thought we knew but we soon realise that we are blind. His knowledge of life is impressive for someone "who sees no evil" but feels it with great intensity.
When we ask him what he thinks of borders a subject matter we would like our work to revolve around he simply says uVALO loosely translated as "the feeling of Fear". We go on to explain the kind of work we do as Artists and once again without much thought as if he were an angel he whispers 'You mean Healing." Wow suddenly our miniature minds and under developed senses tell us we are hungry and we interpret this as physical hunger. Sorry for us we decide to indulge in Colonel Sanders prescription medication for the black hungry soul Kentucky Fried Chicken baby. 

As much as my insides were getting oiled so was my mind.  I know that the Truths I  was receiving from Bab Martin were preparing the machine in me. I was being colonised with love and truth and it felt so good, I knew that not even the Queen of England could touch me now. I was on top of the world and the world was no longer on top of me.

We walked away heavy, not just with KFC but with POWER and SIGHT.
The HEALING had begun.  

"Jesus said to the blind man open your eyes and see Hallelujah Amen, Hallelujah Amen"

"Jesus said Nicodemus you must be born again Hallelujah Amen Hallelujah Amen"

A Selfish Silly English Poem by a Selfish Silly Afrikan

Let me recite
Allow me to recite
I beg you that I may recite
The poem that I feel.

Let me recite
allow me to recite
I'm desperate to recite
the poem that sets me free

As I recite
allow me to recite
I'll be happy if I recite
the poem that made me me.

The poem that might not be
because its a poem that unleashes me
the poem that will expose me
as deep as I can be

The poem that bruises you in order to heal me that humiliates me to stimulate you that gives birth to me with promises to kill you......

Fear allow me to recite I need to recite a poem that is not afraid to see me,
A poem that is truly me.

 

"yekela ikhekhe lami ufuna ukulenzani ikhekhe lami " an Afrikan comments at the re visitation of the Berlin Conference in 1884 

Dear Blog

Johannesburg, Jozi Maboneng, iGoli, Kwandonga ziyaduma, The promised land for many and a dungeon of shattered dreams for some.

After much thought and deliberation I opted for this city or rather this city opted for me. It lured me into its epicentre , It trapped my dreams , refocused my vision and stripped my soul naked as it had done to many just like me. It opened me up, showed me my truth my untainted truth, and led me to this very question KONJE NGANGIZOKWENZANI LAPHA? The answer changes all the time.

Egoli ngifike ngathola umsebenzi, ngathola umgogodla, ngathola indoda, ngathola abantwana ngatholwa amakhaza, umoya owomile wangiphashisa, ilanga langomisa, umsindo wangidida, izintaba zasezimayini zangikhombisa ukuthi ukuze litholakale leliGolide elikimina kuzomele ngigujwe to the depth of my soul. At times I feel exposed, opened up, drilled to my core, imicabango namaphupho ami edlwenguliwe, umgogodla wami ukhathele and my values questioned.
 
At times I choose to be moved by sorrow, pain and frustration and I neglect the beauty that is me. The beauty that is God , The Beauty that is in you sorrowful, pain stricken and frustration riddled  beautiful Johannesburg.
 

For the first time after a long time I allowed Beauty to move me

Jemmiro Arts

Dear Mr or Mrs Blog

Now am not sure whether you are man or woman , before I was convinced you were neither.


anywho here are some random Quotes from my mind to feed your habit and take away my edge....


"We keep saying when we are old not realising that we grow older by the second"

"My eyes have perfect sight of the moon and it shines bright towards my direction. So why should I grow weary?"

"Let every moment have its own moment rather than involving other moments into this very moment"

"I chose to see the stars and my eyes began to speak a different language, my heart sang a different song and my night suddenly became bright."

"I have a dream that love shall be set free."

"I may be fooled to think I own this vessel that is my body but even the fool that I am realises that I don't own the content inside of it."

"It seems like my spirit is renting space in my body."

"Faith leads one to stand up and fight, meaning it gives one courage."

"perfection is in the eye of the beholder."

"Temptation the woman with a sweet yet poisonous voice."

"wondering how it would have been thinking maybe it could have been exactly like this"

"I'm thirsty for .... amuse yourself fill in something you would never say. Breaking stereotypes starting with self"

"Position yourself so that the sun shines bright in your favour. having said that don't forget to wear sun screen and give others the chance to also bask."

"I sing with every being of my soul. My heart ululates whilst my feet beat an unforgettable rhythm."

"God is HUGE u can't contain, box or own this Force "

"To END is to BEGIN in this circle of LIFE"
                                                                                                                                       Hlengiwe's Psalms

                                                    

             " Ngiphakamisela amehlo ami ezintabeni lapho usizo lwami luvela khona" 

David's Psalm

Dear Blog

Desperation! Desperation! Desperation!

The Desperation of my black dark mind causes me to seek for Gratification, Peace and Love in places that dehumanise me, in places that take away ubumina and belittles imibono yami nemicabango yami.
I am reduced to isithunzela forsaking my Spirit, my God and my great Destiny.

I wait in long queues everyday to receive a Blessing from a man who himself is desperate for this Blessing.
He gives me water and vaseline to take away my desperation , I believe and viola it works?

I wait again for a desperate 5 years to be given a T-shirt and a promise yokwakhelwa iRDP (reconstruction and development program)  house ngiphinde ngikhushulelwe imali yeqolo ngo R10. 
Ngoba I am so desperate I go ahead and once again queue from dusk till dawn to cast my vote for a man who is oh so desperate, resorting to desperate measures for power and recognition. This leaves me truly reconstructed and in need of a program to develop my sense of pride.

My desperate black dark mind supresses my own reasoning causing me to say yes its fine that another person of a different ethnicity and background should determine how I fix my hair, colour my face and adorn my body that is uniquely mine. So I find myself once again queuing to be told by a Chinese man what hair extension I should fix on my crown of glory. Thinking that this is going to extend me to my Glory I go ahead use imali yeqolo lami elingalali lisebenzela abantwana bami and buy this hair extension only to realise 5 yrs down the line that it has stolen my crown and left me bald.

Ok now I'm bald my head is a playground for foreign ideas and philosophies. I leave umuzi wami nabantwana bami ngiyosebenza emazweni ngisebenza amashift awu 3 ngelanga ngisebenzela imali yetransport nerent kanye netax. hooweee!!! ngaze ngakhathala ,ngaze nga desperate for someone to touch my feet, massage iqolo lami and listen to the blab that comes out of my desperate lips.
Its not long before I find a man or a woman who is desperate for praise, love and a mat to wipe his or her feet on. She or he kneels and I jump up and down saying "yes, yes, yes  I will"  only to find that his or her knees are now resting on my neck causing me to suffocate.

Perhaps if I'm lucky I will be found resting my bald black dark corrupted and twisted head on the fast train to neverland but if I'm not I will be deported back to my black dark mind never to return.

             Lost in the stars "Trouble Man" the Baron Samedi interpretation

 

Dear Blog

 

I guess perhaps this medium serves as a higher-grade diary which gives me permission  to speak my thoughts.... well I think alot about my Blackness "Ubuntu bami" or perhaps Ubumnyama bami. So if I should go on and on and on and ON about this it should be OK because these are my thoughts and Dear Blog isn't that what you're about "Peoples thoughts".

 

So today I thought about my Blackness again!!! It should be a boring thought and subject matter in my head now, somehow I wish my brain could just reject it and quickly move it to the spam mail session in my gut but hey it feels like it's been saved forever and not about to be erased any time soon.

 

"OK get to the point Hlengi". Well taking a taxi from Kya Sands to Roodepoort made me realise once again that the Black mind is so "suppressed"  ucindezelekile umqondo womuntu onsundu, this just makes me wanna yell out SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!

SHAME! on me for being a 31year old mother of four with a diploma and a job and yet still subjects herself to taxis well rather to the taxi mentality "I don't get this".

SHAME! on that queue Marshall who keeps pulling kissing faces every time he sees a pretty woman, I wonder if his face doesn't lock into spasms.

SHAME! on that rude taxi  driver who assumes that everyone who climbs into his Boss's taxi knows exactly where they are going and that the person sitting in front has a CCD "Counting Change Degree".

SHAME! on that old Baba who is so opinionated thinking that the taxi is his house and that he should dictate to everyone exactly where to jump off, and Finally since it is Women's month a big SHAME!!! on that woman who finds joy in putting down another sister, embarrassing her in public.

SHAME!!! SHAME!!! SHAME!!! on this mental slavery that continues to dominate our thoughts and actions. Today I felt sooooooo ASHAMED!

 

Isende indlela, ngiqalaphi ukucabangisisa okomuntu okhululekile. Konke engikwenzayo nengikucabangayo somehow has a direct relationship with my blackness. Ngisho nokucabanga ngolimi lwami kuyinkinga. But wait a minute luyini ulimi lwami, yingabe yilolu oluhalela imagnum ice cream eyenziwe eUnilever in La Lucia. Noma yilolu olungayidli inyama or wait a minute mhlawumbe yilolu oluthanda ucheese no fish wase West Africa... Kwaze kwanzima Maye ngilamuleleni!!! Singing- "Ngaphesheya Ngaphesheya ,Ngiyakphumula ngiyakujabula, Ngaphesheya Ngaphesheya Mhla ngifike zweni Ngaphesheya"

 

Highway to Heaven Paradise Road "a simple tale of Colonialism"