BlackFor30
Liberation is a philosophy that must first exist in our minds before manifesting through our actions.
BlackFor30
Creating Stories That Matter w/Prosper Kunyetu
What if your heritage could be woven into the fabric of modern fashion? We uncover the inspiring journey of Prosper, a self-taught filmmaker committed to capturing the essence of cultural identity through the lens of his camera. From his early days as a passionate artist to his evolution into a master video editor, discover the hurdles and triumphs that shape his unique storytelling approach. This episode promises an intimate look at how unseen aspects of culture can be brought to life through visual art, invoking a deep sense of pride and connection with our roots.
We delve into his acclaimed documentary, "I Wear My Culture Right" and learn how this project bridges Zimbabwean heritage with contemporary fashion, highlighting the rich tapestry of Zimbabwe's ethnic groups. We explore the educational gaps that often leave many of us disconnected from our own history, and how his work aims to rekindle a lost connection with heritage. Through the stories of seven designers and their culturally inspired garments, the documentary offers a vibrant reimagining of Zimbabwean identity.
Finally, we discuss the profound impact of art and filmmaking in preserving cultural traditions. From documenting the intricate basket weaving of the Tonga women to capturing the communal spirit of rural Zimbabwe, this episode underscores the importance of passing down cultural wisdom, and the need to create culturally rich content that fosters a sense of belonging and pride in African heritage.
Host:
Fungai Mutsiwa
Guest:
Prosper Kunyetu
Visuals by Prosper
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And not to make a comparison and say ours is better than you know Asian or European history, but then just to say ours is important and it's very relevant, you know.
Speaker 2:I would say it's more important to us than any other. You get it Because it's us. We have to know who we are, so to us it becomes top priority and then everything else comes after. Yeah, it's only natural, it's only justified. I have a dream today. Is it too much to ask you to grant us human dignity? Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair?
Speaker 1:Who taught you to hate the color of your skin to such extent that you bleach. For so many many years, we were told that only white people were beautiful. You're afraid that if you give us equal ground, that we will match you and we will override you Three, three.
Speaker 1:Which means don't forget who you are or where you came from. Welcome to Black for 30. Thank you for coming through and joining us in another discussion on Black for 30. And, of course, before the episode begins, we just need to observe 15 seconds of just being quiet, just so you can wrap up whatever it is you're doing and then we can fully engross ourselves in this discussion to come. So the 15 seconds starts now. Welcome to another episode and, of course, your host, fungi. So the dude, I've got on.
Speaker 1:I guess I want to give a bit of context as to, um, how I felt, uh, coming across as work, I feel like, like when I was watching I think it was the one year binga, like the basketry one right, which we'll get into later After watching I just felt like you capture the obscure, like the unnoticed and the ordinary right, and in a lot of ways and not just from that video but from others as well like you reminded me of the things about our culture that you know, um, I take for granted or I'm just ignorant of as well.
Speaker 1:Um, you know from little things of like how we celebrate or feast as a community, you know how we grieve as a people. So I felt like having this discussion because I'd like to share the brilliance and creativity of your work with others. So throughout the episode we'll be talking about some of the, I guess, like hand-picked projects that, like that, really spoke to me. So I hope to invoke in others a similar sense of nostalgia, connection and pride that I got from from your, your work, you know. But I guess, to kind of bring it all back, you know you're a self-taught filmmaker, you know. So I'm curious as to you know what it is about the camera that drew you to choose it as your medium of expression and creativity?
Speaker 2:oh yeah. So I was saying, um, I think, from from, like when I was 10, I was just drawn into art and performance. So we ended up just starting like a play group where we used to then go to some areas and just perform as kids. And then I just grew up to liking everything. Liking everything and I used I used to just even going to, I used to go on tv, and then I wasn't impressed with the graphics that are.
Speaker 2:That were they at that time and I'll start just making my own on a computer, and so I'll be like I'm gonna then deliver this and tell them to use this and then eventually, when I then grew up, did a little bit of music and, yeah, started then doing working for, for, for a friend of mine who who used to have a like a photo studio and they were just editing pictures and that's. I think that's when I really then fell in love with cameras and from there I started to learn motion graphics until, I think, 2014, when I then got my first job to be a video editor and to shoot, and from there, that's when I started then just learning on the job, everything that I've been doing for the past 10 years yeah, nice.
Speaker 1:And looking back at it now, right, like you know, for the last 10 years, do you have a phrase that could sum it up for you in terms of what that experience has been like?
Speaker 2:I would say it's been a lot of learning and growing up to do, because, you know, with our industry we have to be, I would say, relentless, like we were having the conversation before off record, where we're saying you know, sometimes you go for months without jobs and you don't know when your next job is going to come, and then sometimes you don't even have time to breathe when you have jobs. So I think you have to then learn a lot of discipline and a lot of, I would say, patience, because sometimes you're going into places where everyone is not even happy to see your camera and you then have to stop and explain to them what you're doing, because people have a negative I don't know negative outlook on cameras, because you're going to be on h metro or you're going to be on the news or what, and then you're just like, no, I'm actually here to do this and that and that. This is what I've done before. So are you interested in now, maybe, showing up in camera, and then people be like, oh cool.
Speaker 1:No, that's cool, though, like I guess it's also interesting to hear of that experience from that lens right, in terms of how people receive you when you step into certain spaces. In one of your pieces called I Wear my Culture right, it's a documentary you directed and filmed which melds Zimbabwean heritage with contemporary fashion. It showcases the journey of seven fashion designers who draw inspiration from, I think, 10 ethnic groups within Zimbabwe, if I'm correct, and it also highlights the richness of Zimbabwean history and culture through this collection of culturally rich contemporary garments. And it was funny because up until I watched your documentary, I didn't actually know that we have a total of 16 ethnic groups in Zimbabwe.
Speaker 2:I think you're not the only one. A lot of people didn't know about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, like you know we'll think about. You know Shona and Ndebele, of course, because you know those are the standard. And then you know Maktonga. You know, like you have like just a few, probably like five. You know you could name it and the rest is just like clueless. One of your taglines is frame by frame, we are weaving the African narrative. How does this phrase encapsulate your mission?
Speaker 2:I think it's as simple as the statement itself, where every frame that we're capturing, we're just, you know, we're just telling that authentic African story. And this is what we even try to do when we work with corporates as well, when we work with everyone that we work with, where we are very conscious about how we want to emulate ourselves. It doesn't matter like it's someone who's deep down in Binga or someone who is Makaha or you know where. Every story, you know, every frame that we capture, it has to then give you a glimpse of who we are, not a glimpse of what everyone has been told. Kuti, this is who we are.
Speaker 2:I don't know if it makes sense, but it's like yeah, I'm Zimbabwean, I know and I've been lucky I think I'm one of the lucky ones of our generation to then go around the country and to then go around the country and see many of these tribes, ethnic groups, and be at most of the national heritage sites and actually learn and see some of the physical artifacts that are there and how it then corresponds to the oral and written history that's there. So I think with that then I get to appreciate who we are as a person. So whenever I then get to, maybe to mutoko. I know these are the korea korea people and I think it's amazing how you then freeze at some point. You you're like okay, so we are very diverse, even in one tribe where Shona is like five different tribes, we are very diverse and people have different, distinct cultures, you know, and a way of doing things which you then have to know at some point.
Speaker 2:Or whenever you step into a different province, whenever you step into a different community, you have to then learn what is it that's different, that they do, what are the things that they say that is different from the next person. And when you now tell a story about those people, you have to be very conscious about even what they're saying and how they're saying it, so that at some point, when a native of that distinct ethnic group sees that video, they'll see themselves and they'll quickly, just pick quickly this is who we are. And if you are from a different um a group in zim, you actually then pick, uh, certain things about the other group. So it's, it's, yeah, it's been um, I think, a fun and amazing journey man, that sounds really dope, like you know.
Speaker 1:Do you feel like it's weird how at least this is how I feel about it right To be Zimbabwean, right, and then it trips me out how very little I know about that. At the same time, you know so, like I'll say, I'm proud to be Zimbabwean right time. You know so, like I'll say, I'm proud to be zimbabwean, right. But then when you, you know, express yourself to, to work such as yours, right, then you realize, oh man, there's, like you know, there's 16 whole ethnic groups that we have right, so that means there's 15 other groups that you know I obviously you don't have to know them intimately, right, but like to even just know about them. You know I don't. You know so like it gives you, or at least it gives me, this feeling of being foreign in my own land, so to speak.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah, it's like I was saying you of course will feel bad about it, but you know there are a lot of things that we didn't have control of, like what we had to learn. I'm not sure if you went to school back here at home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did. I went to high school. Yeah, yeah, but you can even high school into high school.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. But you can even tell Kuti how even the lessons on his tour are structured From like form one to form two, you just learn a little bit about our culture and heritage and history and then, when you get to like form three, you are now 15, 16-ish. You then get to learn deep down into European history and if you check, a lot of us can tell about what happened in Europe, but they really can't tell what happened back home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, like somehow I still know some dude named Bismarck, I don't know why.
Speaker 2:I think, to a certain extent I'm happy I dropped history in Form 3 because I don't know about that stuff. If you ask me what happened, like I don't know about that stuff, If you ask me what happened, like I don't know, so it's like some of those things that contributed to us not then maybe just getting closer to actually wanting to learn about who we are, until you get maybe older, like now, where you're like, but really who am I? And then you start to then start to search and look into all those things and I think, which is the one thing that a lot of people of our generation are now trying to do and yeah, it's interesting and sad and all of those things at the same time- yeah, like our schools weren't built, you know, like I'm I don't know now, but like I doubt that it's really changed.
Speaker 1:But, like you know, our schools weren't built to make us curious about our own history, you know, and not to make a comparison and say ours is better than you know Asian or European history, but then just to say ours is important and it's very relevant, you know.
Speaker 2:I would say it's more important to us than any other. You get it Because it's us. We have to know who we are, so to us it becomes top priority and then everything else comes after. Yeah, it's only natural, it's justified.
Speaker 1:Yeah, every other place does it. I believe we need to rethink that same approach with art as well, you know, to seeing it and interacting with it. You know, because most spaces, you know, we see it and interact with it. From a Eurocentric point of view, and depending on what kind of art it is, you know, it's probably limited in the scope or context within which it's represented, or it's misrepresented. You know, sometimes you find art and it's there mainly because it's attached to some colonial event that happened, you know. But then it speaks nothing or very little about the relevance of that artifact to whatever culture or tribe it came from.
Speaker 1:And this goes with galleries and museums across different spaces, where they present it or interpret it like limited narratives. And when I look at our art right, you know, a lot of it embodies our cultural practices and carries values and philosophies that our people have lived by. So in a way, art is a reflection of the people. To begin to understand the value and importance of art in preserving and evolving our culture, I think we need to recognize its ties to our way of being. You mentioned in your work how you tested your abilities and deepened your appreciation for culture and history and design as well. Right, because, like you know, with that, with that, wear my culture. It was, you know, a fashion project. Can you share more about your experience and the creative process behind it?
Speaker 2:We just came in I mean, I and the team from production so we came in as just the storytellers of the whole project. So we are going to document the whole process. Gil Moore, who's the, I think, the brains behind the whole project and everything just reached out and he was like are you guys even interested in just collaborating with us on this project? This is what we're doing. We're going to 10 different cultural people, ethnicities, and we have fashion designers, and would you like to then join us in telling the story? And you know, because this is something that I've been doing, I think, before from because I had a project that was similar, where we were going to almost every cultural heritage site or museums and some of the major sites and just documenting that stuff.
Speaker 2:This then project sparked a light in me where I was like, oh, this could be a continuation of learning from from that perspective as well, but also a chance to tell a story that is of value and something that I knew I would be of great help, because I had then gotten some information before. I had learned a lot of things on my previous project that I was working on in terms of just the culture, the history and everything that's there. So then, going back to those people, while I had a bit of background knowledge about that group, it was going to be fun and, I think, a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, so I had to hope on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and thank you for bringing that work to us. It was really dope just getting to see. You know, we're speaking earlier about how we don't have a national dress, so to speak. Right, when we think of African attire, we'll normally think of, you know, kente or I think the other one is a dinker or something like that. But you know, we have our own garbs but we are just not familiar with what they are, you know. So it was just really nice, I guess, seeing a contemporary interpretation of that I'd love to also talk about and this is the first project that got me, that introduced me to your work, which is basketry in Binga, right, um, that and so like it was just um.
Speaker 1:Again, for context for people, it's a shot like documentary, which is shot in a um in an area in zimbabwe called binga, and on this project you work with uh zubo trust, which is basically um, a not-for-profit which advances women's rights and opportunities, with an emphasis on empowering Tonga women through development initiatives. So through the documentary you tap into how basket weaving has been a part of the Tonga people who are mostly located in Zimbabwe and I think also parts of zambia. And, yeah, and the film also explores, you know how the skill of basket weaving has been passed from generation to generation through oral tradition. Right, and it was quite interesting because as I was watching that, it made me realize that when I look at those baskets in a store or at a stall in a market, there's a story behind it. They represent a history of tradition. So how did you get involved in this one, in this project?
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, so it was part of that project that I was saying before. It was part of that project that I was saying before. So how I got on, it was part of a government initiative, for I think it was the Dubai Expo. So my producers from Tracy Mason then reached out to me back then and that was I think that was the first time that we worked together and we had to go around the country, you know, just capturing a lot of different stories. I think there's that we did. We did how many? I think we had about 20 or so videos after about just who we are as Zimbabweans, because we were trying to market the country as Zimbabweans, because we were trying to market the country as Zimbabweans. So we're capturing a lot of different stories about different people in different communities, about our art, our history, like just everything Zimbabwean.
Speaker 2:So Basket Trader in Binga is one of the films that I felt. Even before going to shoot, I was like to the producers you know what? This story is so deep that I can't wait to get there and tell this. And yeah, it just happened just like that, where, even when we got there, we just wanted to tell the story because it's far to get there, yeah, when you're coming from Marare, and I think at that time we had done a lot of other locations. I think we were then doing Masingo the following day or the following week, so we were tired, but then just getting there and seeing the people and telling the story, it was just amazing that I ended up going back there again and tell this that same story with a different organization. So it's, yeah, it was just amazing. Man, it was was amazing to tell the story.
Speaker 1:One of the things it pointed out to me, you know, was how with and we were speaking about this earlier as well in living in urban areas or overseas, right, it's led to us detaching from some of these rural communities, causing, like this, gradual disconnection from that part of society, or, I guess, both parts of society just being disconnected. And I think this was largely influenced by, you know, colonial development. You know, if you look at how development was mainly prioritized in, you know, in in hubs, so you know there are certain towns and cities that are developed, but the rural areas were neglected, right, and we've just continued on with that same model. And you know, you see, and I guess, for historical context again, the allure of the city life, you know it prompted people to leave the rural homes in search of what you know they perceived to be a better life. You know, and that was often associated with, you know, lifestyles of white people who occupy, you know, well-paying jobs and they lived in luxurious suburbs. So I think this aspiration for whiteness led to a cultural disconnection that's been passed down through generations. So today, status is still linked to proximity to whiteness, a notion which is ingrained in our society.
Speaker 1:I remember when I was talking to my brother and he was telling me how one of the phrases he hates the most is when people call him murungu and for context, murungu means white person in Shona, right and when people say they're signifying someone in a position of power or wealth and you can see. You know it's taken a long time for you know, like, personally, for me, right, like I feel like it's taken a long time for me to become curious about. You know, my cultural identity and I think it's crucial that we prevent younger generations from experiencing the same cultural disconnection. You know, like it shouldn't take this long for a zimbabwean to be curious, to want to learn and know more about their own culture. So, do you see your work in any way as a bridge that is, creating or preserving our connections with a part of us that we've neglected?
Speaker 2:Definitely it's helping someone somewhere, you know, but I think it needs to be adopted into a, I would say, bigger scale. I think what we're doing is just maybe a start, but you know how we can then expand it, because right now we have kids that are being born every day. For the past few years, now that we even have, like, there's access to internet, which is a good thing, but if you see, what a lot of our kids back here at home have access to is, I'll say, the western way of learning where, well, what's, what's this song? They're learning the on a bus, you know, all of those things which is good, it, it's good content, most of it, not bad at all. But then, when we look at it from a cultural perspective, I'm not sure about you when we went to primary all those things which is not immediately available for a kid in Zim to watch and learn, those things. There's a lot of good stuff that was back then that we don't have now. And how do you explain this?
Speaker 2:Great Zimbabwe was bigger than London during its time and we are told Kuti, there's. No, your civilization came with the whites when they colonized. But this is way back before even colonization. We're talking of centuries, 20,000 people at some point that were being managed. How did they manage that society if there were no systems, if we were not civilized, if there were no systems, if we were not civilized? You see, that alone just tells you there's a lot of wisdom that was being used and applied back there, our own ways of doing things that actually worked. And how we then lost that in between, we don't know. But then just that oral between, but we don't know. But then just that oral tradition that was happening. People were learning. We could then apply it now back to where we're saying, the content that we applaud.
Speaker 2:I think then that might then get back to us. Filmmakers and people would then make stuff like that. Can we then make child-friendly stuff, you know, that can start to conscientize the kids about who we are and who they are. And just, you know, learn from an early age. When they get to like the first, when they get to preschool, there's also stuff that's aiding them into slowly. And when they then get to grade one, grade two, grade three, we're getting deep into it. As they grow, they know who they are and the importance of these things. That alone will give us that you know identity and you know appreciation of who we are and and you never know how that can then change even our perspectives as a people, as a nation, as a continent. You know um to to yeah to say. You know we're africans, we're proud of who we are and we are preserving our culture, our history and everything that we do now this way. Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, the three things that come to mind for me are Ngano and Sumo Nemadimikira. So Ngano is folktale or storytelling, right? Sumunemadimikira? So that would be I don't know in English like proverbs, adages and allegories. Yeah, because I feel like I should have learned them a lot more when I was younger and, of course, I hope to be able to create, like to, I guess to go back to that, because you know now, as an adult, like you know, when I go over some of that, I just think about you know the relevance it had, like where, like you know, when we were kids, it was almost kind of like lost on us, right, because we didn't understand the value of it, so we didn't really seek it. But you know, had we been fed a whole lot of that at least I'll speak for myself, you know it.
Speaker 1:it imparts these ideologies of who we are as a people you know even, another example of that would be totems, right, where each totem, if I'm correct, has its own poem, right. So, and each poem is obviously then explaining who your people are, who your tribe is. You know what you're known for and you know all these are different elements in which our way of life is being imparted, and you know. Therefore, you know, bringing that connection or that tie and and it's so sad seeing that because it's, it's a, I see it as a legacy of colonialism, right, Because we used to be those people, right, who observed such traditions and practices, right, the only reason we started to think that it's, you know, connected to something evil-ish or, you know, savage, is because of the doctrine that came with, uh, white settlers, like british settlers, right, so we then distanced ourself from it, and you know, you, really clearly, you see it from, like going to school, right, knowing someone about the imagina, or being at least in my spaces, right.
Speaker 1:Or like being good in Shona was not seen, as you know, something to even aspire to. It would be something to be embarrassed about. You know, you wanted to be the best in English, you wanted to stand out there, you know, and I was that kid too, like where? Not that I was ashamed of Shona, but I put more effort in English than I did in Shona, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's sad. You know, at some point when the whites came this is what I heard during the course of those projects where they knew our society was very spiritual from the get-go, even how there's a hierarchy of how things were done. You know would go from Mondoro to your ancestors, your family ancestors. There's a priest in the house. You know there was even hierarchy in that african tradition and also the ubuntu was there and, as I think with with a bunch of the bantu people, it was like a common thing. So a community had a prescribed way of doing things. Uh, where? Way of doing things where you couldn't just maybe steal or what, or kill someone, because Ngozi would be waiting for you. So there was even no need for a physical jail because that thing would chase you. So that's how, how spiritual we were.
Speaker 2:So when the whites came at some point, you know they would then try to beat these people. But because when these people are coming to war, some are coming possessed with their ancestors. You know some they have these priests that are like fighting for them. They're telling them things and the whites couldn't really conquer them and the whites couldn't really conquer them. So what they ended up doing was like you know, this practice that they're doing, let's label it illegal. So that's how they started to disband a lot of people. So we can't. They were like I think this is Baba Patil Samoyal was saying you can't fight spirits, you can't, they'll defeat you.
Speaker 2:So they knew that and they were saying whatever cultural practices that you're doing, whatever African religion, is now illegal. That's how they started and at every spiritual fort that we had, they had to build a church. That's why, you see, matopo is one of the I think it's one of our biggest cultural spaces where a lot of cultural activity was happening. We're talking back to Stone Age, Paituama, stone paintings. I think there are like 3,000 sightings, if not more, of rock paintings just around Matopo alone. So, and up to now, matopo is the highest concentration of crosses on top of some of the hills, I think in Zim or, if not Southern Africa, like Peskwema or I don't know how they measure it.
Speaker 2:So that alone just tells you Kuti, you know, wherever there was something, they'll build a church, build a mission, and just to say you can no longer practice this, whatever tradition that you're doing, because maybe it goes against the agenda or whatever they were trying to do at that point and I would say if they knew the impact that it was going to have on generations of Africans in terms of them losing who they are, and if it was intentional, bro, if it was intentional, bro, that was evil, to be honest, because how can you take someone's heritage, someone's you know way of doing things and say yours is right over what these people are doing? Because, as Africans, we believe in one God. You know that's Msikabag, and whatever way that we then were using God, you know that's Msikarang. And whatever way then we're using to practice our tradition, we still believe in one God, which is almost similar or which is the same thing as Christianity. We believe, we like it. So that alone to then say these people are evil because they're practicing, practicing this religion, yeah, that was.
Speaker 1:I think that was even more evil yeah, yeah, I mean, the whole, the whole thing was diabolical, you know, because you could really see just how insidious they were, because it was really all thought out, you know, and, and it takes flipping the perspective, or changes the perspective slightly, for you to really realize some of these things. Right, for example, they would call us, you know, savages because we believed in ancestors, for example, right and spirits. But how, how much different are ancestors or spirits to their founding fathers? Right, they will talk so much about Aristotle, they'll talk so much about whoever and such some polymath or whoever. It is right and technically they are ancestors because literally, an ancestor is just, you know, a spirit of someone who died from, you know, from whichever culture or tribe. So, yeah, so, like you, you you definitely do find that like it's an exercise of having to really think about some of these things. You know, as my brother would would call it a deep it. You know, uh, just really think about some of these things, as my brother would call it deep it, just really think about it.
Speaker 1:And I think this would be a perfect time to get into your other film, which was on the Rushumbe beef community. Man, that was a dope film, you know. So Rushumbe is basically a remote village in when it's in Southern Zimbabwe, right as I was watching your film, I experienced the unique aspect of communal African society that I'd never seen, you know. It also highlights you know, you're talking about the separation of, or like, the difference in experience when you're in the town or urban areas versus there, right, where you don't know your neighbor, and that's one of the things that I always reflect on. You know, like when I was home, you know, and so I grew up in Greendell and Mbari and a few other places as well, right, but those two were the most, I'd say, integral to, like, my upbringing, and in both places it was standard that you knew at least everybody that was on your road. You know what I mean. Like you knew every person that was on your road. You know what I mean. Like you knew every person that was on your road, and probably it would probably be like you know a whole block that you would know and it was, and it was just how things were. You know your parents would know so-and-so's parents and you'd, you know you'd go to their house after school. It was just. It was just what it is.
Speaker 1:You know, and having lived here, like, if I think back to so, I've been living in different apartments since 2014.
Speaker 1:Right, so it's about 10, 10 years, right, yeah, and I've lived, I think, in probably seven different apartments in seven different areas, probably seven different apartments in seven different areas, each of them.
Speaker 1:I don't think I've ever known my neighbor, like sure, there are a few where I would have, just, you know, like, oh yeah, familiar face, familiar face. Yeah, right, because you know, as we're going to work or whatever, we kind of bump into each other but to know by name and not even close, not even close, you know. And and here you also then get used to the fact that I won't see, so my family, like you know, cause I've got siblings here and they each live, you know, and they each live roughly about an hour to two hours away from where I live, and I could easily go for a month without seeing them, which is so crazy, because when I was back home, it was a different experience. They were just in my face, not in a bad way, like they were just in my face, not as in a bad way, but, like you know, they were just around. So, yeah, I definitely can relate to what you're saying.
Speaker 2:Even when I was growing up because I grew up in Kubodiriro and it's way different from it's almost the same way I literally know everyone in my hood not not everyone as such, but I literally know a lot of people in in, like, uh, two square kilometers or, yeah, 2.57, likei literally almost know everyone. And or in every, in every street I know a family. You know, that's like yeah, how we grew up and how you would go to call almost everyone when something happens and they'll show up or just call, stand on the drawer, or just call for the neighbor, and then they just show up.
Speaker 1:Yo, I really appreciate you coming through and, like you know, sharing a bit in terms of you know this really dope work that you're doing, um, and I hope this helps. You know, put a lot of people onto your work as well. So what I've gathered is that part of what drives your work is in writing narratives that we want to see of Zimbabwe and the continent overall. So, if I'm correct, you know, with that in mind, can you explain the relevance of the proverb? You had this in the video.
Speaker 2:No, no one man is an Island, uh, something like that, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it then goes back to just the, the sense of community. You know that we have. We had um as as Africans, where we were moving as a unit, and if anyone has a problem, it's also your problem. If anyone is celebrating, it's also a celebration. So it then goes back to. There's this video that I watched of a Zimbabwean graduate who was giving a speech. When you know, when she highlighted Kuti. You know, when you say congratulations, the response is like it's not for us, only it's ours, for us, only it's ours. You know the celebrations are ours. You know it's like it's been there, it's there and it's something that we just really need to re-concentrate ourselves. You know what? No, no, no, no. No. One man is an island. You know, a child is raised, raised by a village, literally.
Speaker 1:You know it was such a beautiful speech, man, like I remember listening to that, and because I always used to, I always used to find it interesting that you wouldn't answer that question right, like as in so, if, if, if someone come comes to you and says manguanan, uh sorry, not manguanan, but what I'd say, right, which which is good morning, right, you'd say that I don't right, which is, I slept well.
Speaker 1:If you slept well, you know, and I not having realized the depth at that point up until I watched the video, I always used to to think it's kind of funny that, you know, I ask you a question only for you to then ask me, you know, ask a question in a way yeah, or like your answer is conditional. So, like, I always used to think it was just like weird and I just actually laugh it off, until when I was watching the video and she was explaining it and I was like, of course, you, idiot. This is what it means that, through trials and tribulations, we are still a community. It was beautiful just getting to see how, even in the little things, or in the mundane things, how culture still, you know, shows itself.
Speaker 2:I think it's just us. Then you know, like we were saying, we need to get to a point where we're, like even our kids, we might need to be very, you know, intentional about it, because that's how we pass it down, because that's how it was passed down to us. You know where I'm like the primary language that's going to be spoken in my house is my mother tongue, you know, because I have to pass it down. I have to pass it down, yeah. So it's one of those little things that we need to start just bringing back to whatever way of living that we have now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because you know, like it's sometimes people don't realize that. Like it's one thing to wish for all these idealistic things, but they mean nothing with no action. But they mean nothing with no action. You know so like to to realize those things that we aspire for, we have to actively, you know, go out and seek them again. Thanks a lot for for your time and, like you know, sharing a bit more insight into you know what drives what you do. I definitely hope the next time around I'm back home we can meet up for sure, and I'd love to also then learn more about whatever it is that you're doing at that point, because I'm pretty sure you stay working. But yeah, thanks a lot, and I think also to the listener, thank you for tuning in as usual. Hope you took something out of this. And for people who want to check out your work, where should they go?
Speaker 2:I think the main site that you can check is creativemicefilmscom. I think that's where we're now pushing everything. Pushing everything, um, that's. That's the main production company where we're now starting to see more stuff just being done along that. But for my personal stuff, you can just check visuals by prosper, um, I think, on instagram. That's where I'm more active and I'll put um.
Speaker 1:I'll put both of those um in the description of the episode as well. So to everybody that's where I'm more active and I'll put both of those in the description of the episode as well. So to everybody that's tuned in, remember, stay black. I hope this was a learning experience to adopt and change the way you think and live. The goal is for us and that includes you to be able to see ourselves for who we are, so we can accept the person in the mirror and begin to value ourselves. Whether you agreed, opposed or were offended by some of the content, I encourage you to engage with me so we can have positive discussions in trying to understand each other. So send your comments, reviews or feedback to our Instagram. Blackfor30,. Thank you for your podcasts, thank you for your time and I wish for you to join me again.
