Streetlight schools: The life of a beading dancer teacher

So every Saturday, I slowly get myself across town to teach the young, talented minds of South Africa.  I work on a syllabus to teach that includes art, design and movement. Lately we have been doing a lot of art in the hopes of setting up a market.

The more I teach my students the more I see, time is not on our side. Most of my learners head off to the far rural areas of South Africa between November and December. I am really trying to push that we set up a market so that they understand something about making money.

I love teaching at the center even if my students are still learning to behave in art class...imparting art knowledge is priceless.

My students haven't been exposed to a lot of arty activities because of their location and general background. We are moving into a new space soon in our building to accommodate our learners and have enough space to teach and run around. 

If you would like to donate any art material, learning material or even cash to support our teachers' salaries. Contact me or find Streetlight schools on facebook.

ArtRising Part two....

Again, we are pushing activism. We are doing our annual youth remembrance event in Soweto. This year we have scaled it down because we would like to really focus on the Media center at Thabisang and completing the interior design.  We will be focusing on changing the space when schools close next week.

We invite those who want to see change in our schools to join us in the spirit of the youth of 76'.  We continue to fight for African systems of education. Thus far no such thing exists, we are forced to learn primarily in English and in Western ways.  The Education syllabus in South Africa is disgusting to say the least. The is no intergration of our indegenous cultures and cosmologies(including language).  Yes one can say the youth can choose Zulu at school if they wish...but does that same youth use it till tertiary and in corporate South Africa? i think not. After the youth of 76' fought so hard, education still happens from an outsiders perspective. We, I am speaking as an Afrikan...not South African(whatever that is...cause anyone can be South African these day...except Africans). We are forced to learn other peoples languages from an early age, then we have to adopt their culture, then we have to submit to the Eurocentric-male dominated world of work that looks down on us still.

The Africa that some of us picture will not exist at this rate. The Africa that says you can learn African ways of being and doing things so we can come up with solutions that work for more than 60% of the country and not the minority.

Reflection:

I get up everyday and reject the corporate world because it does not speak to my vision of that Africa.  I design, make and produce items that I believe call for a different interaction with this Africa.  Most people do not get what I do because I am not subscribing to the usual: go to university, get a qualification and work for a white man.  My spirit cannot subscribe to such. I think it is the cowards way out...I do not view myself as a half-way crook.  Bass John can come to buy books from me for all I care...I handmake my journals and everything else, I dont see why people have to go to exclusive books to get expensive-carbon footprint costly items.
It is beyond me why Africans still look to the minority in the country for validation. I am all about loving other people and their culture(love it to bits) but I am for each of our nations standing up by themselves so that we can build life sustaining, life growing and seriously world changing work.  But i dont think it will happen if we all try to be the next person instead of ourselves.

Nuff ranting:

Catch Artrising this weekend...changing our neighbourhoods one project at a time. Come support the indigo market this Sunday and begin different conversations about financial markets and trade as a whole.

Also if you are in the Kagiso(west rand) area, check out the youth March on the 17th from 8am.  Kagiso's youth rising happened on the 17th and the activists in Eternal Beat(emancipation of thoughts) chose to celebrate it on that day.

Re gopola...batsha ba Aforika!