Keorapetse Kgositsile
THIS WAY I SALUTE YOU – a gathering for Keorapetse Kgositsile
“When the clouds clear / We shall know the colour of the sky.”
On Thursday 30 January 2025, we are proud to host the launch of two long-awaited books on our dearly departed teacher Keorapetse Kgositsile:
Collected Works, 1969–2018, from the Broadside and Third World Press days to Beyond Words, a near 50-year journey of word-sound-power, edited by Phillippa Yaa de Villiers and Uhuru Portia Phalafala; and Uhuru’s own pathbreaking study, Keorapetse Kgositsile & the Black Arts Movement.
Join us at Chimurenga Factory with Uhuru Portia Phalafala, Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, Lwando Scott and mpho ndaba from 7pm or listen in here via PASS
(illustration by Medu for a concert by Gwangwa-led Shakawe feat. KK in Gaborone, circa 1982)
HOME IS WHERE THE MUSIC IS
“Home is where the music is” is drawn from Keorapetse Kgositsile’s poem “For Hughie Masekela”, dedicated to the South African trumpeter, composer and bandleader. The poem ends with the lines, “This then is the rhythm / and the blues of it / Home is where the music is”. The poem was published in the 1974 collection, The Present Is A Dangerous Place To Live, however it was presented to Masekela earlier. Bra Hugh then recorded a double album titled Home …
This Way I Salute You – a live broadcast for Keorapetse Kgositsile
On Friday 19, from 6pm we gathered in the Chimurenga/PASS radio studio on Long Street to give thanks to Keorapetse William Kgositsile (19 September 1938 – 3 January 2018). The session is hosted by Uhuru Phalafala and Bongani Kona and features contributions by Harry Garuba, Karen Press, and Julie Nxadi. We also listened and broadcast recordings of his performances, interviews etc, and the work he often made reference to: Dyani’s bass, the words of Baraka and Neruda etc. Please join …