Cape of Good Flow Poetry Tour
The best advice I can give when traveling is to speak to strangers! I know this is the antithesis of what we are taught as children, but take a quick look in the mirror; you are a responsible, discerning adult fully capable of interacting with others you don’t know. Now, use discretion here. I’m definitely not saying to stand in a street like a mad man/woman and speak to random people on vacation, but the stereotype that the rest of the world is dangerous or that foreigners despise Americans is wholly untrue.
In Cape Town, for example, on the return ferry from Robben Island, the location in which Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for years, I inadvertently sat next to a guy that happened to be singing a soulful tune. I broke the ice and asked if he was a musician. He responded that he wasn’t but that he knew many of them in the area. We introduced ourselves, and he told me that his name was Tebo. Ironically, my good friend/poet Samantha Raheem, the person who recommended that I travel to South Africa, referred me to a Teba before I got to Cape Town. Teba and I were unable to connect in the area due to conflicting schedules, but the name stayed in my head. I brought up the name similarities and he said that Teba was actually a good friend of his. He informed me that he was heading to the Marcus Garvey Rasta Community for a outdoors music performance and that I was welcome to ride. I used discretion based on the fact that he was employed with the museum and because he knew an acquaintance. I hopped in the car with a perfect stranger, Tebo, and had one of the best times there, admiring local musical talent and soaking in the hospitable people of that community. Consequently he introduced me to Crosby, a local music artist that recorded a verse for my upcoming solo rap album, “Beast of the Southern Wild”.
Although I only spent two and a half days in Cape Town, it was an eclectic mix of mountains, beaches, history, and cuisine. Table Mountain, the prominent site as you enter the city was majestic to say the least. I took the rotating cable car to the top and saw some impressive sites of the Cape of Good Hope where two oceans converge. I also walked around and enjoyed the views of the city. Another important historical site was Robben Island. Although a little expensive, this visit includes a boat ride and two hour tour. I was also able to soak in some history with visits to the District 6 and Bo’Kaap museums. At Bo’Kaap, a historic Muslim community known for its brightly painted houses, I met with the family members of one of the people that helped fund my trip from Abu Dhabi. They prepared a nice British brunch for me including my first ever taste of scones (for the record, you put the butter, jam, and THEN the cream). While they love the city and the neighborhood, in particular, they said that crime was on the rise in the neighborhood due to a Meth-like drug popular with the youth.
After my stay in Cape Town, I flew two hours to East London, the meeting point to begin my poetry tour and meet with my hosts Nkqo and Karen. Nkqo, an impressive wordsmith and organizer of the Eastern Cape’s only Hip-Hop/Poetry platform, “Soul Clap Sessions”, is a native of Eastern Cape in a town called Mthatha. Karen is from Canada originally and currently lives near Coffee Bay, another town in the Eastern Cape, where she runs a community village known as Mawotsheni, another location for a community workshop and performance. During this ten day roadtrip/tour, we planned to mix performances and workshops with leisure as I was invited to be a part of the family. It meant a lot to me that I was welcomed as one of the clan instead of just a performer. In East London, we stayed at a cheap backpackers right on the ocean. Although there were communal showers and no electricity, I paid only about $17 for my own private hut overlooking the ocean- a poor man's paradise view of sorts...
From East London, we took the seven hour journey to Coffee Bay where I had my own hut complete with cow dung floor! This stay was the first time I experienced an outhouse and outdoor shower (meaning pouring heated water on yourself and rinsing with a bowl). The workshop was an intimate mix of youth and adults, foreigners and locals, poets and poetry lovers. It was an honor to share performance poetry tips to both children and adults. I also was able to perform alongside Nkqo. He informed me that tribesmen didn’t actually own the land in many villages but were given permission by the community to use it indefinitely. Living there is all based on your relevance to the community. At any point, if the community decides that you are not a positive contribution, you can be banned. The beaches in Coffee Bay were beautiful! I forgot to wear sun screen and am still sporting a "farmer's tan".
A cool fixture in Coffee Bay was Jah Drummers, an artsy outdoors café with nightly jam sessions. I was impressed by a Portuguese guitarist/singer visiting there to promote his music. After a three day stay in Coffee Bay, we trekked back to East London for my feature at “Soul Clap Sessions”. On the way, we stopped in Mthatha, Nkqo’s hometown, to attend a traditional circumcision ceremony. This was not for a child though. The Xhosa people circumcise men when they become adults (around seventeen or eighteen) as a rites of passage ritual. The circumcision didn’t take place at the ceremony. The celebration was to commemorate the successful “passing over” of a boy to adulthood. It was beautiful to see men and women speak take turns for hours speaking affirmations in to the boys' lives. I felt great to be welcomed in as family. They slaughtered cows and lamb for a festive time with over two hundred guests that lasted for a whole weekend. Some of the Xhosa people had never met an American citizen before. One of the men (possibly due to drunkenness) bowed on one knee and kissed my hand to greet me. Some people spoke no English but talked to me in Xhosa anyway because they were so excited to see me. I was just as honored.
The performance at “Soul Clap Sessions” was a validating and rewarding experience for me! I was able to perform new poetry and even some of my new Hip-Hop records to an impressive response of a crowd of about 60. Before I featured, it was an honor to network with aspiring Hip-Hop artists, many of whom have very original styles that reflect the challenges and experiences of growing up in South Africa. Almost all of the artists were conscious and uplifting. After I featured, people stayed around to take pictures with me and to get my CD. A few days later, I went to an interview at a local radio station in East London where I was also able to perform poetry and Hip-Hop to a listenership of thousands! I also had the opportunity to record with a local producer that I met at Soul Clap Sessions.
