25 August, 2007
Masizakhe Festival: Building Each Other Up through culture, art and music
City Hall in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
This Saturday, 25 August the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Youth Council, S.W.A.M, AIDC, Bay FM and KQ FM presents the First Annual Masizakhe Festival: Building Each Other Up Through Culture, Art and Music. The festival will feature a showcase of Port Elizabeth music and spoken word talent including Warriors, Abantu, S.W.A.M., GYU, Usiba Noncwadi, Shades of Blackness, and JBux. These artist will be featured in the upcoming documentary film “Masizakhe: Building Each Other Up.” Filmed in the townships and center of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, ‘Masizakhe: Building Each Other Up’ focuses on a new generation of activists who have taken the mantel from activists before them, who were instrumental in freeing South Africa in 1994. Much of the work that these new activists are doing revolves around building community through music, hip-hop, spoken word, and radio. The film weaves powerful spoken word and music between the themes of poverty, segregation, racism, and the struggle to rebuild a nation that has been scarred by the effects of a system that regulated people to the worst possible conditions. Despite the lack of resources in South Africa today, there is a huge amount of positive energy being put forth by the youth to create popular culture and a sense of self-worth so that future generations can eliminate the hardships they are now faced with.
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