Mbizo Chirasha
 

Identity Apples

iam a fat skeleton, resurrecting
from the sad memories of dada
and dark mysteries of aminism
iam buganda
i bleed hope
i drip the honey of fortune
makerere, think tank of africa
i dance with you wakimbizi dance
iam tanganyika
i smell and fester with the smoke of african genesis
iam the beginning
kilimanjaro the anthill of rituals
iam the smile of africa
my glee erase the deception of sadness
my tooth bling freedom
iam  myself, iam gambia
when others seep with bullets stuck in their stomachs
i sneeze copper spoons from my mouth every dawn
iam the colombia of africa
iam the cinderella of africa
where mediums feast with the ghost of kamuzu in mulange trees
here spirits walk naked and free
iam the land of sensations
iam the land of reactions
coughing forex blues
squandermania
i still smell the  scent of nehanda’ breath
iam african renaissance blooming
i stink the soot of chimurenga
iam the mute laughter of njelele hills
iam soweto
swallowed by kwaito and gong
iam a decade of wrong and gong
iam blister of freedom vomited from the belly of apartheid
i see the dawn of the coming sun in madiba ‘s eyebrows
iam abuja
blast furnace of corruption
nigeria, the jerusalem of noblemen, priests, professors and prophets
iam guinea i bling with african floridization
iam blessed with many tongues
my thighs washed by river nile
 

iam the mystery of pyramids
iam the graffiti of nefertiti
i am the rich breast of nzinga
iam  switzerland of africa
the rhythm of kalahari sunset
the rhyme of sahara, yapping, yelping
iam damara, iam herero, iam nama, iam lozi, iam vambo
iam bitterness, iam sweetness
iam liberia
iam king kongo
mobutu roasted my diamonds into the stink of deep brown blisters
frying daughters in corruption microwaves
souls swallowed by the beat of ndombolo and the wind of rhumba
iam the paris of africa
i see my wounds
iam  rhythm of beauty
iam congo
iam bantu
iam jola
iam mandinga
i sing of you
i sing thixo
i sing of ogun
i sing of god
i sing of tshaka
i sing of jesus
i sing of children
of garangaja and banyamulenge
whose sun is dozing in the mist of poverty
iam the ghost of mombasa
iam the virginity of nyanza
iam scarlet face of mandinga
iam cherry lips of buganda
come sankara, come wagadugu
iam msiri of garangadze kingdom
my heart beat under rhythm of words and dance
iam the dead in the trees blowing with wind,
i can not be deleted by civilization.
iam not kaffir, iam not khoisun
iam the sun breaking from the villages of the east with great inspiration of revolutions
its fingers caressing the bloom of hibiscus
liberation!

 


  
Identitätsäpfel

ichbin ein fettes Skelett, das wieder aufersteht
aus traurigen Erinn'rungen an dada
und dunklen Mysterien des Aminismus (1)
ichbin buganda (2)
ich blute Hoffnung
ich tropfe den Honig des Schicksals
makerere, Think-tank von Afrika (3)
ich tanze mit dir wakimbizi(4) tanz
ichbin tanganyika
ich stinke und  eit're mit dem Rauch afrikanischer Genesis
ich bin der Anfang
kilimanjaro der Ameisenhügel der Rituale
ichbin das Lächeln Afrikas
meine Freude tilgt die Täuschung der Traurigkeit 
mein Zahn blingt(5) Freiheit
ichbin ichselbst, ichbin gambia
wenn andere aussickern während Kugeln stecken in ihren Mägen 
schneuze ich Kupferlöffel aus meinem Mund bei jedem Tagesanbruch
ich bin das Kolumbien von Afrika
ichbin das Aschenputtel von Afrika
wo Medien schmausen mit dem Geist von kamuzu in mulange Bäumen (6)
hier gehn Geister nackt und frei
ichbin das Land der Sinneseindrücke 
ichbin das Land der Reaktionen
huste Forex Blaus
Verschwendungssucht
ich rieche noch den Duft von nehanda Atem (7)
ichbin Afrikanische Renaissance die blüht
ich stinke den Ruß von chimurenga (8)
ichbin das stumme Lachen von njelele Hügeln (9)
ich bin Soweto
verschluckt von kwaito(10) und gong
ichbin ein Jahrzehnt von wrong/falsch und gong
ichbin Blasen der Freiheit gekotzt aus dem Bauch der Apartheid
ich sehe den Anbruch des kommenden Sonne in madiba ‘s Augenbrauen (11)
ichbin Abuja
Hochofen der Korruption
Nigeria, das Jerusalem der Edelmänner, Priester, Professoren und Propheten
ich bin Guinea ich “bling” mit afrikanischer Floridisierung 
ichbin gesegnet mit vielen Zungen
meine Schenkel, gewaschen vom Nil 

ichbin das Geheimnis der Pyramiden
ich bin das graffito of Nefertiti
ich bin die reiche Brust von nzinga (12)
ichbin die Schweiz Afrikas 
der Rhythmus of Kalahari Sonnenuntergang
der Reim der Sahara, kläffend, jaulend
ichbin damara, ichbin herero, ichbin nama, ichbin lozi, ichbin vambo (13)
ichbin Bitterkeit, ichbin Süße
ichbin Liberia
ichbin König Kongo
mobutu röstete meine Diamanten im Gestank von tiefbraunen Blasen
briet Töchter in Korruptions-Mikrowellen
Seelen geschluckt vom Beat des ndombolo(14) und dem Wind des rhumba
ichbin das Paris von Afrika
ich seh meine Wunden
ichbin Rhythmus der Schönheit
ichbin Kongo
ichbin Bantu
ichbin Jola
ich bin Mandinga (15)
ich sing von dir
ich singe thixo (16)
ich sing von ogun (17)
ich sing von Gott
ich sing von tshaka (18)
ich sing von Jesus
ich sing von Kindern
von garangaja und banyamulenge
deren Sonne döst im Nebel der Armut
ichbin der Geist von Mombasa
ich bin die Jungfräulichkeit von nyanza
ichbin scharlachrotes Gesicht von mandinga
ichbin Kirschenlippen von buganda
Komm Sankara, komm Wagadugu
ichbin Msiri vom Garangadse Reich
mein Herz schlag unterm Rhythmus von Worten und Tanz
ichbin die Toten in den Bäumen die wehen im Wind,
ich kann nicht ausgestrichen werden von Zivilisation.
Ichbin nicht Kaffer, ich bin nicht Khoisun
ichbin die Sonne die anbricht in den Dörfern des Ostens mit großer Inspiration von Revolutionen
ihre Finger liebkosen das Blüh'n des Hibiskus 
Befreiung!
 
 
 

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Translator's note:

1  Idi Amin was a ruler in Uganda; Aminism: a neologism that faintly evokes the sound of the term animism...

2  Buganda is a subnational kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Ganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day Uganda, . 

3  Makerere University Kampala (MUK) is Uganda's largest and third-oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. 

4  wakimbizi (Suahili) = refugees ("Flüchtlinge" in German)

5   Blingbling is een term die  rappers  gebruiken voor sieraden.
Het is afgeleid van het geluid dat twee of meer (al dan niet edele) metalen sieraden maken als zij tegen elkaar tikken. Curieus is dat het gebruik als Amerikaans leenwoordin het Nederlands wordt gerelateerd met blinkende zaken, waarschijnlijk vanwege de klankovereenkomst tussen "bling" en het Nederlandse woord "blinken". (Blingbling is a term used by rappers for "cool,"  sometimes shiny objects.)

6  Re kamuzu and mulanje: The Mulanje cypress is a species of Widdringtonia native to Malawi, ... It is only on Mulanje and Mchese Mountain that a closely related tree form is found. The Mulanje Massif, also known as Mount Mulanje, is a large monadnock in southern Malawi .... The Mulanje Cedar (Widdringtonia whytei) was proclaimed the National Tree of Malawi in 1984 by the late president Hastings Banda. Hastings Kamuzu Banda was president of Malawi from 1966 till 1994. Cf. the newspaper article “Kamuzu Banda is a deep reservoir of lessons” which states about President Banda: “He altered Malawi’s colonial history and […] wrote its post-colonial experience.  […] [T]he history of this country would cease to make sense minus 30 years of his dynamic leadership. Kamuzu was a ruthless organiser. He was gifted with a dominating presence; a calm, sometimes intimidating personality and fierce clarity in his manner of communication. Armed with extensive education, global exploration and the heart of a lion, he was fearless. In more ways than one Kamuzu was ahead of his political team, and this served him and Malawi very well. As we honour the Lion of Malawi, what do we learn? Well to me Kamuzu is a complex curriculum. Only a few lessons can be drawn at a time: The first lesson to be had is that way back in 1964 when systems were much more primitive, Kamuzu forged clear development policies and strategies in all sectors. He stuck to simple, technical, un-ideological policies which addressed basics of livelihood, notably food, water, housing and clothing for the people. It was not a case of humanism, capitalism, socialism or other ideology; it was about what produced results; about what changed people’s lives and what kept the people of Malawi together as one nation. From the outset, Kamuzu underlined agriculture for the dual reason of food security and economy.” (Tom Sangala, in: The Times (Malawi), May 18.2015.
Renowned actor and comedian Michael Usi alias Manganya is planning to distribute his Kamuzu film for free to aid more Malawians. Cf. also: Kamuzu Academy in Mtunthama, Kasungu in central Malawi  and also Kamuzu Central Hospital in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe  and also Kamuzu International  Airport(LLW)  - Both terms, kamuzu and mulanje connote rootedness (in one's specific socio-culture).

7  Nehanda (Shona language) = bull(s). Cf. also  Nehanda Radio and TV, Zimbabwe

8  chimurenga (Shona language) = revolution 

9  Regarding the Njelele Hills, in Zimbabwe, see Mandla Tshuma, “Annual contributions to Njelele pilgrimage compulsory in Hobodo community”, in: Religion in Zimbabwe,  Jan. 9, 2012 which gives this information: “Despite one‘s religious orientation, annual contributions of money and grain towards the Njelele Shrine  pilgrimage are compulsory in Hobodo community in Mangwe district of Matabele land South Province. Every year towards the beginning of the rainy season in the month of August or September, Chief Hobodo, as the custodian of Kalanga  religion and customs, sends a delegation of amawosana (people with rain-making spirits ) to the Matopo hills-situated Njelele Shrine to go and ask for some rains from Ngwali (a spirit speaking from a rock in Njelele) on behalf of the community. [...]”  [http://relzim.org/forum/in-the-churches-blog/3560/]
Cf. also: Njelele Art Station: this is  an urban laboratory located in downtown Harare. It focuses on contemporary, experimental and public art practice. 

10  kwaito (Shona language) = poison

11  madiba: “Shortly after Nelson Mandela's death [...], his clan name Madiba emerged in condolences […] The clan or family name represents a person's ancestry. The meaning is deeper than a surname and is used as a sign of respect and affection. The origin of Madiba comes from a chief who ruled in the 18th century ” [Jolie Lee, “Why Nelson Mandela is called Madiba”,  in: USA Today, Dec. 6, 2013]

12  Nzinga Manda (or Queen Anna Nzinga), c. 1583 – December 17, 1663),  “was a 17th-century queen (muchino a muhatu) of the Ndongo and Matamba Kingdoms of the Mbundu people in Angola.” “Queen Nzinga (Nzinga Mbande), the monarch of the Mbundu people, was a resilient leader who fought against the Portuguese and their expanding slave trade.” See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nzinga_of_Ndongo_and_Matamba and http://www.blackpast.org/gah/queen-nzinga-1583-1663 .  “She also orchestrated guerilla attacks on the Portuguese which would continue long after her death and inspire the ultimately successful 20th Century armed resistance against the Portuguese that resulted in independent Angola in 1975.” - See : http://www.blackpast.org/gah/queen-nzinga-1583-1663#sthash.A7gV38CL.dpuf  Cf. also: Gary Y. Okihiro, In Resistance: Studies in African, Carribbean and Afro American History. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1986.

13  damara,  herero,  nama, lozi,  vambo: Damara: Cf. Damaraland, in Northern Namibia, inhabited by the Damara people.  – Herero:  “The Herero is an ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa.  The majority reside in Namibia, with the remainder found in Botswana and  Angola.”  “The Herero and Namaqua Genocide was a campaign of racial extermination and collective punishment that the German Empire  undertook […] against the Herero and Nama people. It is considered as one of the first genocides of the 20th century.” – Nama: the “Nama are an African ethnic group of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. ... In general the Nama practice a policy of communal land ownership. Music, poetry and story telling are very important in Nama culture ” – The Lozi people are an ethnic group primarily of western Zambia, inhabiting the region of Barotseland. They number approximately 575,000 in Zambia out of a population of 10 million. Lozi are also found in Namibia (Caprivi Strip), Angola, Botswana. Cf. also the article: “Lozi (Barotse) Nationalism in Western Zambia”; it says: “Barotseland was one of the strongest indigenous polities of southern central Africa, controlling a broad swath of territory that encompassed the Caprivi Strip. Although the Strip was never predominantly Lozi in terms of ethnicity, the Lozi tongue (Silozi or Rozi) did become its common language. Barotseland also developed an incipient sense of national identity, which extended beyond the Lozi proper to include some of the kingdom’s affiliated ethnic groups. As a result, some Caprivi people look north to western Zambia rather then southeast to Namibia proper as the heartland of their political affiliation.”  – Ovamboland in Namibia is inhabited by the Vambo people.
“The Lozi kingdom is historically rooted in the distinctive environment of the Barotse Floodplain, a vast wetland some 230 kilometers long and 40 kilometers wide, located along the middle stretch of the upper Zambezi River. In the pre-colonial period, few areas of southern central Africa offered an environment productive enough to support the concentrated settlements and surplus foodstuffs necessary to underwrite a powerful, centralized polity. Soils are poor over much of the region and tsetse flies abound, preventing intensive cattle production. The Barotse floodplain, however, presents a different kind of environment. The river floods annually, turning the basin into a shallow lake and depositing a fresh layer of fertile silt. Flooding also prevents tree growth, which in turn precludes tsetse flies. Farming, fishing, and especially cattle herding on the Barotse Plain are quite productive, allowing relatively dense settlement. Flooding presents its own challenges, of course, as entire villages must seasonally relocate from the center to the margin of the plain. Intriguingly, Lozi oral traditions link the establishment of such annual migrations to the transition from female to male royal authority.” Source: http://www.geocurrents.info/geopolitics/lozi-barotse-nationalism-in-western-zambia#ixzz4AYuF1vli

14   Ndombolo is a Congolese music genre and dance style, also popular in other African countries such as Kenya and Madagascar. It is derived from kwassa kwassa. – Re rhumba, check rumba. “The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, the term rumba was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba. Since the early 20th century the term has been used in different countries to refer to distinct styles of music and dance, most of which are only tangentially related to the original Cuban rumba, if at all.  In In the US, the term "rhumba" (anglicised version of rumba), began to be used during the 1920s to refer to ballroom music with Afro-Cuban music themes [...]”

15   Re: Jola, Mandinga, Bantu:  Bantu may refer to: Bantu languages. They constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages; and it may refer to the Bantu peoples, they are over 400 peoples of Africa.
“The Jola (Diola, in French transliteration) are an ethnic group found in Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau.” Re: Jola and Mandinga,  cf. the composition of the population of Guinea-Bissao: “Wolof, Fula, Mandinga, Jola.” Mandinga in Guinea: “Á l'époque le "Mandimansa" (l'empereur du Mali) exerçait son autorité presque partout à l'intérieur de la Guinée.”  Ten percent of the population of Gambia belongs to the Jola tribe.
Guinea-Bissao: “Recent folklores recall the defeat of Portuguese repression, exploitation, and dehumanization of locals   and celebrate the lives of heroes of the Revolution like Amilcar Cabral and Domingos Ramos.” (Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society [3 volumes], p.601)
re: Balanta society: “Oral traditions attribute the exodus of Balanta from central Guinea-Bissao to their rejection of the methods of the Portuguese colonial regime. They recount tensions between the politically dominant and slave-raiding Mandinga and Balanta […]  Bejaa, […] Kaaba and Mandinga share the Islamic faith and dress codes.”(Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society, p.601) 
Re “Muslim Jola”: “Liselott Dellenborg reports that for Muslim Jola in an uncircumcised woman's prayers are said not to “take” or to give [...]” “Most Mandinga women in Guinea-Bissao consider […] initiation to be less important than the physical act of female circumcicision which they link explicitly to religious identity [...]” (Yilva Hernlund and Bettina Shell-Duncan (eds.), Transcultural Bodies: Female Genital Cutting in Global Context. New Brunswick NJ and London : Rutgers Univ. Press, 2007)
Gambia: “Principal tribes in the "Protectorate" have been the Mandinga (35%), Fula, Jola, and Serahuli. Mandinga and Serahuli are mainly Moslems; the majority of the Jola have traditional African religions.” (Martina Sasnett and Inez Seppmeyer, Educational Systems of Africa: Interpretations for Use in the Evaluation of Academic Credentials.  Berkeley : Univ. of Calif.Press,  1966, p.374)
[Être né dans dans la tribu Peule (côté père), et entouré par des traditions Mandingue, Tchando est le porteur naturel de ces deux fabuleuses cultures.En 1994, Tchando a decidé de retourner à ses origines peules et mandingues. Soutenu par l'association danoise des compositeurs, D.J.B.F.A., il part à Guinée Bissau pour une veritable recherche musical pendant six mois. La culture de ces deux peuples - les Mandingues et les Peuls - répresente le fond musical de Tchando.]
You find  Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society [3 volumes] here:
: https://books.google.be/books?id=YjoVCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA601&lpg=PA601&dq=
Jola+MANDINGA&source=bl&ots=fKlzT1yrl8&sig=edy9cgnR4EYC4r105ssmmbV-R
Mg&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiC8rSh4o3NAhWMLcAKHSvrBv8Q6AEISzAH#v=
onepage&q=Jola%20MANDINGA&f=false [search term: “Jola MANDINGA”]

16  Re Thixo: “THIXO: Sun God of Tickly Noses. Thixo is the African God of the Sun and comes from the mythology of Africa” – “Thixo is derived from Tsui?Goab (Tsuni-?Goam), the great hero of the Khoi from. ... Thixo Creates Three Nations (Khoi, Xhosa/South Africa).” See: Harold Scheub, A Dictionary of African Mythology, London : Oxford University Press. Online version, 2002.  http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195124569.001.0001/acref-9780195124569-e-326 – “(Sung in Xhosa) Bawo, Thixo Somandla, (Father, God Almighty) Buyinton' ubugwenxa bam? (What are our sins)”  – “uThixo is also used to emphasize the authority and acceptance of uNkulunkulu as "our uThixo"3) (Thixo wethu, Evening Prayers, Section 23, 12 ” (Gerhardus Cornelis Oosrhuizen, The Theology of a South African Messiah. Leiden : Brill 1976, p.16)

17   Ogun: “In Yoruba religion, Ogun is a primordial Orisha who first appeared as a hunter named Tobe Ode. He was the husband of Oya. He is said to be the first Orisha to descend to the realm of Ile Aiye, "Earth", to find suitable place for future human life. In commemoration of this, one of his praise names is Osin Imole or the "first of the primordial Orisha to come to Earth". He is celebrated in places like Ekiti, Oyo, and Ondo States. He is believed by his followers to have wo ile sun, to have disappeared into the earth's surface instead of dying, in a place named Ire-Ekiti. Throughout his earthly life, he is thought to have fought for the people of Ire thus is known also as Onire. –In Dahomey religion, [Ogun is called Gu and] Gu is the vodun of war and patron deity of smiths and craftsmen. He was sent to earth to make it a nice place for people to live, and he has not yet finished this task” “In Haitian Vodou, Ogoun is syncretized with St. Jacques Majeur (St. James the Greater) in his incarnation as Santiago Matamoros (St. James the Moorslayer). In Candomblé, Ogúm is syncretized with Saint George or Saint Sebastian [...]”  ”Over the centuries, the inter-cultural exhanges between the Vodoun cultures of West Africa, and the Yoruba Ifa'Orisha tradition is well documented.” ”Ogun, or Ogun Onire, is the god of war and iron of the Yoruba people of West Africa.” Cf. “OGUN: The Hunting God of Lethal Metalwork. Ogun is the African God of Weapons ”

18  Tshaka; Shaka: “Shaka kaSenzangakhona (circa 1787 – 22 September 1828), also known as Shaka Zulu (Zulu pronunciation: [??a??a]), was one of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu Kingdom. […]  According to tradition, Shaka was conceived during an act of what began as ukuhlobonga, a form of sexual foreplay without penetration allowed to unmarried couples, also known as "the fun of the roads" (ama hlay endlela), during which the lovers were "carried away".[...] Due to persecution as a result of his illegitimacy, Shaka spent his childhood in his mother's settlements. He is recorded as having been initiated there and inducted into an ibutho lempi (fighting unit). In his early days, Shaka served as a warrior under the sway of Dingiswayo.
Shaka went on to further refine the ibutho system used by Dingiswayo and others and, with Mthethwa's support over the next several years, forged alliances with his smaller neighbours, to counter the growing threat from Ndwandwe raids from the north. The initial Zulu maneuvers were primarily defensive in nature, as Shaka preferred to intervene or apply pressure diplomatically, aided by occasional judicious assassinations. His changes to local society built on existing structures. Although he preferred social and propagandistic political methods, he also engaged in a number of battles, as the Zulu sources make clear. He was assassinated by his half brothers Dingane and Mhlangana.”
“Shaka's hegemony was primarily based on military might, smashing rivals and incorporating scattered remnants into his own army. He supplemented this with a mixture of diplomacy and patronage, incorporating friendly chieftains, including Zihlandlo of the Mkhize, Jobe of the Sithole, and Mathubane of the Thuli. These peoples were never defeated in battle by the Zulu; they did not have to be. Shaka won them over by subtler tactics [...]” 
“Shaka taught the Zulus that the most effective way of becoming powerful quickly was by conquering and controlling other tribes. His teachings greatly influenced the social outlook of the Zulu people. The Zulu tribe soon developed a "warrior" mindset, which Shaka turned to his advantage.”
King tSHAKA – see images in internet. 
 
 

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