Thandiswa Mazwai On 30 years of freedom: “Racism and all types of imperialism still persist”
Thandiswa Mazwai made South Africa and Africa proud overnight as a special guest on The Message with Ebro Darden on Apple Music 1. #TheMessage is a series to further the dialogue about unrest and inequalities in the United States and abroad.
Two decades since the release of her seminal debut album Zabalaza, the iconic Thandiswa Mazwai marks the occasion with the release of 2024’s Sankofa. In a wide ranging with Ebro she speaks about its significance “My message is Sankofa – which means to go back and fetch what has been left behind, to look back to be able to go forward. It is about reclaiming what is important, what honours you, and what needs healing,” says Mazwai.
She delves into her upbringing, injustice and the country reckoning with it’s apartheid past. “Having grown up during the 80’s in South Africa, the apartheid project to erase our identities and proud histories, was in full force. This year South Africa celebrates 30 years of freedom for “black” people from the violence of the Apartheid system, but racism and all types of imperialism still persist.”
“And so the work of the past 30 years has been in part about reclaiming all that has been lost, stolen, erased. Our cultural identities, our spiritual identities, our land, our sense of home. I am also an African queer woman and that really demands that you claim and vehemently protect all that brings your peace and joy. A sense of community, history and possibility,” she adds.
“The greater message is always LOVE – Of self, freedom, justice, knowledge, truth. The proverbial, OneLove. “
