PoetryZoneZA

@TEDxUJHB held its 5th Annual TEDx event on the 11th of October 2023. One of the highlights of the evening was a great performance by Mandisa Vundla CEO and Founder of @PoetryZoneZA youtu.be/ffmuoGtnbz8

When Mama says she's going to rest... eish that hit hard 💔 @biphakathi dankie 😪🙏

Thomas Sankara was a revolutionary African leader. He drove out French imperialism from Burkina Faso and withdrew from IMF and made the country non-reliant on foreign aid. He was assassinated in a coup led by his close ally, Blaise Compaoré supported by French imperialists As far as African leadership goes, Thomas Sankara was cut from a different piece of cloth. Here are some of his accomplishments, ONLY 4 YEARS in power (1983-87): – He vaccinated 2.5 million children against meningitis, yellow fever and measles in a matter of weeks.
– He initiated a nation-wide literacy campaign, increasing the literacy rate from 13% in 1983 to 73% in 1987.
– He planted over 10 million trees to prevent desertification
– He built roads and a railway to tie the nation together, without foreign aid
– He appointed females to high governmental positions, encouraged them to work, recruited them into the military, and granted pregnancy leave during education.
– He outlawed female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy in support of Women’s rights
– He sold off the government fleet of Mercedes cars and made the Renault 5 (the cheapest car sold in Burkina Faso at that time) the official service car of the ministers.
– He reduced the salaries of all public servants, including his own, and forbade the use of government chauffeurs and 1st class airline tickets.
– He redistributed land from the feudal landlords and gave it directly to the peasants. Wheat production rose in three years from 1700 kg per hectare to 3800 kg per hectare, making the country food self-sufficient.
– He opposed foreign aid, saying that “he who feeds you, controls you.”
– He spoke in forums like the Organization of African Unity against continued neo-colonialist penetration of Africa through Western trade and finance. • He called for a united front of African nations to repudiate their foreign debt. He argued that the poor and exploited did not have an obligation to repay money to the rich and exploiting
– In Ouagadougou, Sankara converted the army’s provisioning store into a state-owned supermarket open to everyone (the first supermarket in the country).
– He forced civil servants to pay one month’s salary to public projects.
– He refused to use the air conditioning in his office on the grounds that such luxury was not available to anyone but a handful of Burkinabes.
– As President, he lowered his salary to $450 a month and limited his possessions to a car, four bikes, three guitars, a fridge and a broken freezer.
– A motorcyclist himself, he formed an all-women motorcycle personal guard.
– He required public servants to wear a traditional tunic, woven from Burkinabe cotton and sewn by Burkinabe craftsmen. (The reason being to rely upon local industry and identity rather than foreign industry and identity)
– When asked why he didn’t want his portrait hung in public places, as was the norm for other African leaders, Sankara replied “There are seven million Thomas Sankaras.”
– An accomplished guitarist, he wrote the new national anthem himself

Guys she made a Gofund. If you would like to donate here’s the link. spot.fund/h3sncsc

🖤🤍🖤🕯️🎙️🕯️🙏🏾🤎🎭

@MbuyiseniNdlozi Okay Ndlozi, let’s leave shutdown matters alone. Let’s go to the @MbalulaFikile gaffes, which one takes the crown: 1) Minibuses sanitising the vehicles 2) people go to school, children go to work 3) People driving cars without cars 4) Sit down before you get into a taxi Let’s go

@DarkDeesiree Thank you for joining us. Unfortunately, technology has a way of working fine one minute and then not working at al in the next. We promise to schedule another session and hope all goes well. <3 Happy World Poetry Day still <3 Don't stop writing.

@PoetryZoneZA The mic...tjooo. its still showing requested on my end

@s_phongo We did and changed the co-host, but the technology Gods were just not on our side. Thank you for joining us. We promise to schedule another session and hope all goes well. <3 Happy World Poetry Day still <3 Don't stop writing.

@PoetryZoneZA Maybe restart the space

@dolledbydej Thank you to everyone who joined us. Unfortunately, technology has a way of working fine one minute then not working at all in the next. We promise to schedule another session and hope all goes well. <3 Happy World Poetry Day still <3 Don't stop writing.

@PoetryZoneZA Hi

@felixwontfixit Thank you to everyone who joined us. Unfortunately, technology has a way of working fine one minute then not working at all in the next. We promise to schedule another session and hope all goes well. <3 Happy World Poetry Day still <3 Don't stop writing.

@PoetryZoneZA So I actually got added as a speaker for like 5 eecs

Thank you to everyone who joined us. Unfortunately, technology has a way of working fine one minute then not working at all in the next. We promise to schedule another session and hope all goes well. <3 Happy World Poetry Day still <3 Don't stop writing.

I have never seen so much electricity in one day 😭

Dear Poets, 4 the love of poetry, please join us tomorrow evening on our twitter spaces for the #WorldPoetryDay Open Mic. Bring your poems, an open ear and an open heart. Time: 19:00-20:00 👉🏾sign up here for the open mic forms.gle/Bb4GpwePJJJeYu… #WorldPoetryDay #PoetryZoneZA

@_AfricanSoil Here is an interesting video summarizing what you talking about Very interesting indeed

@McDonalds_SA Askies baby gal. Come this side for some poetry, we’ll fix you up nyc nyc. 📝 ❤️

Eish guys banglahlile…

Congratulations to the winners of the Brave Spoken Youth Poetry Derby competition. 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 Remember to get to the Soweto Theatre early so you can collect your two tickets. Poetry Derby starts at 15H00! #BraveSpokenYouth #SowetoThetare #Congratulations

.@sowetotheatres did somebody say #SowetoPoetryDerby?