Thabo Lehlongwa, 34, is known to many as Motho Fela, or the righteous common man, a nickname which he believes best describes who he is. He regards himself as a cultural activist and has been active in a number of youth-driven activities since the 1980s.
Besides being a poet/writer, he was the spokesperson for Black Sunday, a Soweto-based hip-hop movement, as well as a member of the organising committee for the UN's Global African Hip-Hop Summit, among other things.
He is presently a researcher and one of the head writers for the TV drama, Muvhango. So, now you know where the poetry storyline comes from.
Thabo is passionate about youth culture and with June 16 just a few of days away, he was one to talk to.
You are scarce on the poetry performance scene. Why?
I don't attend poetry shows anymore. They don't provide the platform for my kind of poetry.
Poetry is powerful and you have to think of the implications of your words. I'm an activist, not an entertainer.
My content is about the realities of where I come from and I like to get people thinking. I was told by promoters that I'm too angry and that people don't wanna hear that.
The Edutainment Poetry Slam Jam sessions, which happen every month in Newtown, are the only ones that give a platform for my voice.
What does June 16 mean to you?
June 16, for me, is a time to remember the strength of the unity of young people of this country and to remember the tears of the black child. The youth has got the power to change the way things are. But they can only do this if they are focused. And they are, they just need a platform.
Poetry can be used to mobilise them to talk about issues we face today. Issues like economic exclusion, job security, or the lack of jobs, and the frustrations that result from all those things.
Lack of opportunity breeds hunger, hunger breeds anger and frustration, and that can lead to corruption. The youth is starving, intellectually and spiritually. Current pop culture does not stimulate them.
What are you working on at the moment?
I'm working on a one-man play called Remember Me. I'm hoping to do this in July at the Wits Theatre. It will be a multi-media kind of show with music, art and poetry.
My objective is to see how we can work with poetry. It will be like a rollercoaster in my mind. I will talk about contemporary social ills. It will be my own interpretation of where we are now.
I am also working on a hip- hop/poetry CD called The Seed of Life, which is an extract of my unpublished anthology of the same title.
Tears of a black child
by Motho Fela
Slow motion thought processes
make it difficult for me to keep hopin
that Shackles of oppression shall remain unbroken
as token blacks get incorporated
into shady money-making schemes
they keep sniffing hopes of freedom
up their asses and noses
the masses left wondering
what the meaning of this madness is
my nemesis smiles in delight
as spirits get shattered, skulls cracked
grey matter scattered
over wasted seeds of liberation
preserved for de-privileged
just like education is for the elite
but the tears of the black child
continue to flow
through the cracks between thick layers of pain