FreedomAfter

Maneo Mohale | Good Boy (Notes on a Sistena)

In this interlude, Poet and writer, Maneo Mohale recites a poem written for their earlier interlude, "Beg (Sistena for a Dom)". 
 
Maneo Refiloe Mohale is a South African editor, feminist writer and poet. Their work has appeared in various local and international publications, including Jalada, Prufrock, The Beautiful Project, The Mail & Guardian, spectrum.za, and others. 
They were Bitch Media’s first Global Feminism Writing Fellow in their inaugural 2016 class, where they wrote on race, media, sexuality and survivorship. 
In 2017, they were Managing Editor of Platform Media, where they also served as Acting Arts Editor for the Mail and Guardian for four editions of M&G Friday and later moved on to be a Senior Media Co-ordinator for Arts and Culture at Collective Media. 
They have been long-listed twice for the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Anthology Award, and their debut collection of poetry, Everything is a Deathly Flower was published with uHlanga press in September 2019. The book was shortlisted for the Ingrid Jonker Poetry Prize, later winning the 2020 Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry. 
They currently serve as a research associate at the Centre for the Study of Race, Gender and Class at the University of Johannesburg.

Siyabonga Mthembu | No Honest Place To Stand

In this episode, artist and musician, Siyabonga Mthembu of The Brother Moves On explores social and political contradictions and seeming impossibilities of living a free life without being defined by the negotiations one has to make to be free.
Considering the legacies of Stephen Biko, Nelson Mandela, and Patrice Motsepe, Siyabonga concludes that there is no honest place for a Black man to stand without being considered a sellout or being painted over by the worst of your deeds. 
Siyabonga explores questions of Blackness and the strange paradoxes of living in South Africa, with all of the past living with us. 
 
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Kelly-Eve Koopman | Beyonding Identity

In this episode, Kelly-Eve explores the narrative and structural complexities of her personal history and how she navigates identity in South Africa and through the world.
Kelly-Eve Koopman is a South African activist, artist, director and actor. She is best known for her roles in the television serials "Hollywood in my Huis", "Kroto" and "Mayfair". She is one of three directors of FEMME projects. 
Kelly-Eve is the author of "Because I Couldn't Kill You" and a senior Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity. 

Gogo Mahlodi | Spiritual Renaissance

In this episode, we speak with Vuyiswa Xekatwane and explore Isintu, spiritual practice and contemporary ubungoma. In it, Vuyiswa reminds us of the longue durée of African people, the tools we have used to navigate life, and how those same tools are still very relevant in navigating modern society.

Karen Hurt | Transcending Boxes

In this episode, feminist and author, Karen Hurt, explores growing up in Zambia and being let free from gendered stereotypes and how she grew to become a "socialist, feminist, badass". 
Karen is the a co-founder of SPEAK! Magazine and author of the children's book "The Daring Duo 1: 179 Jabulani Street".

Maneo Mohale | Beg (Sestina for a Dom)

In this interlude, poet and author of "Everything is A Deathly Flower", Maneo Mohale recites the poem "Beg", exploring sexual freedom, kink and desire.
 
Maneo Refiloe Mohale is a South African editor, feminist writer and poet. Their work has appeared in various local and international publications, including Jalada, Prufrock, The Beautiful Project, The Mail & Guardian, spectrum.za, and others. They’ve served as a contributing editor for The New York Times and i-D, among others. They were Bitch Media’s first Global Feminism Writing Fellow in their inaugural 2016 class, where they wrote on race, media, sexuality and survivorship. They have been long-listed twice for the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Anthology Award, and their debut collection of poetry, Everything is a Deathly Flower was published with uHlanga Press in September 2019. In 2020, they were shortlisted for the Ingrid Jonker Poetry Prize, the youngest finalist of that year.
In 2021, Everything is a Deathly Flower won the Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry.
 
Lookout for Maneo's full episode later in the podcast.

Mpume Mthombeni | Isidlamlilo

In this interlude, Mpume Mthombeni performs an extract from the theatre production, Isidlamlilo.
In the relief of 1994, we did not have the opportunity to process the bloodshed in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng’s East Rand during the "deadly decade" between 1984 and 1994. At that time, even the daily newspapers couldn’t keep up with the onslaught of violence. It is here that we meet Zenzile Maseko, 'Isidlamlilo', the fire-eater. A former assassin for the Inkatha Freedom Party, now a grandmother, partially disabled and declared dead by Home Affairs.
In a room in a women’s hostel in Umlazi, Durban, she appeals to God for forgiveness and shares her dreams, regrets and hopes for freedom.
 
Isidlamlilo is produced by Empatheatre, directed by Neil Coppen, written by: Neil Coppen in collaboration with Mpume Mthombeni and performed by Mpume Mthombeni.

Mark Heywood | Joy Is Necessary

In this episode, veteran activist Mark Heywood discusses whiteness, Marxism and the necessity of joy in activism.

Julie Nxadi | Umthandazo

In this interlude, Julie Nxadi offers a prayer.

Tshepo Madlingozi | Biko Was Free

In this episode, Professor Tshepo Madlingozi explores his personal history with environmental racism, the ways in which Biko prefigured liberation and his relationship with swimming.