Mutumbo’s Sweet Memories

Spoken word / poetry has stuttered across the continent, going through ebbs and flows as poets grapple to build platforms and garner the kind of support necessary to sustain a life dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in word, thought and craft. In Ghana, it is no different. Two years ago, I attended the Bless The Mic open mic series in Accra run by Mi Prime Entertainment and briefly met their resident poet, Mutombo. We shared thoughts on poetry, we shared a poem and went our separate ways. In that time, Mutumbo has been paying his dues, and contributing to the development of the scene in...

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In Retrospect

Been behind schedule on posts so didn't get this out last week Friday. These are some of my favourite links from last week. Entertaining. Inspiring. Amusing. Irritating. Enlightening. Power out unplugs energy workshop Oh! The irony. Power outages at Johannesburg's Apartheid Museum have delayed a National Union of Mineworkers energy security workshop, attended by the industry's leading stakeholders. [Times Live] Suma Interviews Prof Mensah(Ghana) A comedic interview with an Indian man who speaks exactly like a Ghanaian [Video] Canopy Jar Online poetry publication [Words] Chinese Magic Aki...

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Hanging with DJ Black

When I was in Accra last, I spent a lot of time chilling with DJ Black at the Joy Fm studios.  This is one of those times. Still more to come. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drlOglbZz-0 August 2020: I have been going through my past blog posts, debating about which to keep and which to delete. This was around the time I started visiting Ghana, my father's birthplace, again regularly. I hadn't been there in 35 years. DJ Black is a good friend, and that friendship has endured to this day. Funny thing is, when I shot this video, it would take forever to upload video to YouTube. Fortunately,...

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