Conjuring up her wholeness: A Public lecture by Makhosazana Xaba
On the 5th of May 2016, NMMU hosted the published poet and feminist activist, Makhosazana Xaba at the South Campus Auditorium for a public lecture.
When the sun set, the gallant writer rose to share her wisdom in front of a mesmerized audience. It was heartily moving: so much black pride trapped in one human body!
“Love of language developed when I was a child, and it dawned on me: English and Afrikaans could be Zulufied“, said the Greytown, Kwazulu Natal, native in a voice pitched between a lullaby and a hymn.
It was this linguistic awakening that defined her childhood. “Boys would use certain phrases to exert their power,” she added, rather graciously. She said: “Language can work as a tool for exclusion and silence women, render them invincible.”
To breathe life to a beautiful dusk, the author of Tongues of their Mothers (2008) read a poem about Africa’s lost daughter Sarah Baartman to warm applause.