galaxy

Tags

1976 soweto riots, africa, african national congress, african union, afro, america, apartheid, bheki mlangeni, biko, black panthers, black power, civil rights, corporate prisons, dirk coetzee, dollar, dona richards, floyd mayweather, frank talk, freedom, g.o.a.t, galaxy, kareem abdul jabaar, kobe bryant, malcolm x, michael jordan, muhammad ali, ostrich, parcel bomb, sankara, solomon mahlangu, tiger woods

If I sang you a song
A song from your hymn book
Wrote mindless lyrics
A summer anthem
Pretended all was well
Became an ostrich
Like the rest of you
A parrot of the status quo
Aped mainstream society
You’d love me
Throw panties on stage
Download my music
Purchase my books
Follow me on social media
Stay glued to my reality show
Lucky me
If I learnt to shut up
Grew big fat ass
Entertained plastic surgery
Bleached my beautiful Nubian skin
Danced like I was on the moon
Altered my mind set
Betrayed my conscience like rap
I’d be a star
Walk the red carpet
Pity I am not interested
So keep your façade
For I am a child of hip hop
A movement of consciousness
Reaching out to a glorious history
Toiling for a greater future
Cos my red carpet is a glorious path
Colored with the blood of loud mouths like myself
People who chose to speak their minds
Educated niggers
Smart natives
Who irked the comfort of the powers that be
Died for the cause
Maybe they’ll send me to the gallows
Like Solomon Mahlangu
Send me a parcel bomb
Like Bheki Mlangeni
Or a drive-by
Hit me on the drive way like Medgar Evers
Or I could fall at the hands of a Judas
Like Sankara
Malcolm
Cos they always get one of us to get to us
If you sell out
How much is the price of your conscience
Just enough to buy you pseudo comfort
Tell them to pay you in gold bars
Cos the Dollar is paper money
Tell them I’ll be waiting my turn
Doing my best to meet that fateful day
When it’s my turn to water the tree of freedom
Like too many to mention
People whose names were written on bullets
Better to die a better man
Like Sobukwe
Cos when I look at Tiger
Jordan, Kobe
Mr Money himself
I see a dearth in talent
Better to be enslaved against your will
Some are slaves of the almighty dollar
Investing in the enslavement of their people
I yearn for the greatest of all time
Abdul Kareem Jabaar, Muhammad Ali
Superstars from another galaxy
Icons who left a legacy
Champions of our struggle
Who never forgot their people on their way up
Principles have no price

knox mahlaba
Author – Back From The Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit
Copyright © 2015

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black christmas

Tags

1976 soweto riots, africa, african union, afro, apartheid, Back from the Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit, biko, black consciousness, black panthers, black power, civil rights, historically black colleges, steve biko, unity

i’ll never forget
running from school
shoes in hand
hippos roaming the dusty streets
soweto up in flames
teargas in the air
i’ll never forget
the anger of the students
the fears of the parents
the hope of the struggle
though i never threw a stone
i certainly did my part
comprehending the necessity
for a black christmas
i did my part
nurturing my afro
raising my fist in defiance
saluting the power of the people
black power
1976
soweto riots
call it what you may
when black consciousness
planted hope
defeating a complex
i’ll never forget
steve bantu biko
victims of hippos
in the township
and on the border
i’ll never forget….

knox mahlaba
Author – Back From The Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit
Copyright © 2015

Afro-Optimism

Tags

1976 soweto riots, africa, african union, afro, amazon, Amazon author, america, anger, anthology, apartheid, Back from the Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit, biko, black panthers, black power, books, civil rights, colonialism, dona richards, drama queen, frank talk, freedom, great zimbabwe, historically black colleges, john carlos, khafre, kings and queens, kunta kente

As Africans we need to start looking within for solutions and stop doubting our existence and perspective. Our spirituality did not arise through contact with foreigners but arose from our deeper consciousness!

knox mahlaba
‪

Afro Thought

Tags

1976 soweto riots, africa, african union, afro, Amazon author, america, anthology, apartheid, Back from the Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit, biko, black panthers, black power, colonialism, heritage, historically black colleges, legacy, mandela, mugabe

Truth came to market and could not be sold,

we buy lies with ready cash.

African Proverb~Yoruba

the inside is filled with my insides!

Tags

african union, amazon, Amazon author, anthology, apartheid, Back from the Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit, kenya, poetry

introspection

Tags

1976 soweto riots, africa, african union, afro, america, apartheid, Back from the Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit, black history month, black panthers, black poetry cafe, brazil, civil rights, ebooks, february, frank talk, gregorian calender, introspection, malcolm x, March, muhammad ali, pele, the champ, the greatest

Here we go again
February overstating her importance
Hogging the spotlight
What about the other months
The more complete months

Boy, are we myopic
Exposing our impotence
Choosing the shortest month
To celebrate the longest history
My history came before February
Before this calender

World history is black history
But taught from an imposter’s perspective

If it were up to me
March would have taken the honours
‘Cos that’s all we ever do

When unity would accomplish much more
Unite the months for starters
Celebrate black history all year round
Unite kings and queens

Demonstrate a proud legacy
Discover the greatness that lies within

How we carry ourselves an absolutely necessity
By any means necessary more productive

Beat them at their own game
Unite people with purpose

Copyright © knox mahlaba 2015
Author – Back From The Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit

book reviews

Tags

1976 soweto riots, adrina smith, africa, african union, afro, amazon, atlanta, books, civil rights, dona richards, ebola, ebooks, egypt, england, historically black colleges, india, johannesburg, john f kennedy, khafre, kilimanjaro, kindle, kunta kente, london, malcolm little, malcolm x, marimba ani, martin luther king jr, nelson mandela, new dehli, nook, racism, reading, reviews, segregation, slavery, stevie wonder, stokely carmichael, tommie smith, washington dc, washington march, west africa

• Be prepared for reality

  By Adrina Smith on November 1, 2014

  Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

  This book will take you on a quest for actuality. I was simply drawn in from the page to the last. The descriptive and narrative steps taken to absorb the reader with the simplicity of survival but embarks on the empowerment through slavery and civil rights.

  The hardship detailed from Knox Mahlaba, who has loved, lost, rebuilt and matured through obstacles.

  Favorite quotes:
  “Freedom a costly preoccupation, using the past to shepherd the future.”
  “Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument”

caught forever

Tags

africa, african union, anc, apartheid, chris brown, ebola, nelson mandela, robben island, west africa

Tribute to Nelson Mandela

Escaping tradition
Running away from responsibility
Only to be caught
By a greater responsibility
Chiseled by a quarry
Bathed in salty water
Seasoned by kelp banished to an island
Never forgetting
No man is an island
Even royalty
Heeding a calling
Caught forever
The trap Sisulu’s making
Tightened by Tambo
The nation falling onto the safety net
Thank you Madiba….

Excerpt from Back From The Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit

Copyright © knox mahlaba 2014
Author – Back From The Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit

kilimanjaro

Tags

adventure, africa, african union, alps, amazon, andes, angola, berlin conference, burundi, cameroon, caprivi strip, colonialism, colorado, commonwealth, congo, drankensberg mountains, earthquakes, ebola, egypt, equator, ethiopia, everest, grand canyon, kaunda, kilimanjaro, kinshasa, lake victoria, libya, malawi, morocco, mountain climbing, nelson mandela, niagra falls, nigeria, nile river, oau, rhine river, Rift Valley, rockies, rwanda, sifiso vilane, snow, snow-capped mountain, sudwala caves, tanzania, thames, victoria falls, volcani eruption, west africa, zambezi river, zambia

A snow-capped mountain on the Equator
Standing apart, standing alone
Africa’s greatest mountain
Created by quiet rumblings from beneath
The Rift Valley scarring the surface
Shaping the landscape
The fractures below invisible
The divisions above clear
A people divided
Apportioned by foreign forces
The people apportioning blame…

an excerpt from Kilimanjaro,
a poem in Back From The Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit
Copyright © knox mahlaba 2014
Author of  Back From The Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit