I love that a relationship can only ever be defined by the people in it. The idea that we ultimately have the autonomy to customise the systems around our connections so we can feel safe and loved how we need? A delicious concept!
2021. That time I saved all of my earnings from part-time jobs & went to ZNZ + Kenya alone for my 20th birthday. I told my parents 2 days before I left that I’d be gone for 10 days, sent them a PDF of my itinerary + travel details. They were so irate but eventually, so proud. 🥹
Situating myself in generous musical spaces + communities. The power of sharing and collectively putting each other on mustn’t be undermined, music is fundamentally communal. ♥️
8 albums to get to know me:
Yellow — Zoë Modiga
Exiled — Thandi Ntuli
Zimology — Zim Ngqawana
uGaba The Migration — Sisonke Xonti
Konke — Seba Kaapstad
Mother — Cleo Sol
Baduizm — Erykah Badu
Voodoo — D’Angelo
8 albums to get to know me
Frank Ocean - Blonde
Kaytranada - 99.9%
The Internet - Ego Death
SZA - CTRL
Muzi - ZENO
Bongeziwe Mabandla - imini
Solange - ASATT
Florence + the Machine - High As Hope
Yellow The Novel, an album that marked the beginning of my journey exploring the sounds, music + expressions that helped make sense of my world as a 16 year old. 7 years later, I got to experience it revisited by Sis Zoë in my new home, in the beginning of a new chapter. Yoh. ♥️
That Zanzibar thread is just 💔.
The emotional, mental + practical preparation a woman goes through before a solo trip is immense. We do extra research, pay more for safer accommodation options (hotels), etc. all to be assaulted, traumatised and gaslit nonetheless. Exhausting.
An important anti-imperialist deconstruction of the crisis. Mntbwo, kubi — there are layers to this thing. Praying that the innocent remain unhurt, but also that ALL actors at fault are held accountable.
Coming out of a depressive episode and returning to your baseline is so reviving, but it’s also uncomfortable. Having to reacclimate to light again and witness the mess that accumulated in the dark; seeing and attending to that/your mess (without self-condemnation) is hard.
Crossed paths with the kindest people, swam for hours, got lost in villages and rescued by locals (almost daily)… agh. I’m still so proud I did that trip for myself. And so grateful God kept me safe throughout.
Bandla. Last night hey? I’m still floating. The acts I caught (
@internetathi
,
@KujengaLiveSA
+ TBMO) gave us so so much. Grateful for the generosity of black sonic storytellers. And the dancing, laughter and communing that happened in between sets! Joy nje qha. 💐
My relationship with failure has become my favourite personal wrestle— it took a while to unlearn self-loathing whenever I made mistakes. Still unlearning, I’m slowly getting there. Excited to fail forward + face my fallibility some more this year. 🤲🏾
When I think about my parents, I cry. I held back so many tears at my graduation yesterday watching them together and reflecting on their love for me, sacrifices and personal growth journeys. They are my parents, but they’re truly my friends. Deeply grateful for that.
@sabaPIVOT
ZIPLOCK, 2012, GREY, LIFE, PHOTOSYNTHESIS, HEAVEN ALL AROUND ME, CALLIGRAPHY, LOGOUT, A SIMPLER TIME, FREE SAMPLES, SURVIVORS GUILT, FEW GOOD THINGS, IN LOVING MEMORY, MRS WHOEVER, PROM / KING, PAPAYA, EXCITED.