NCC: 'Roar young lions roar'

This is "Ntirhisano Revolutionary House," said the roaring young lion hailing from Khayelitsha townships in Cape Town. When Makoti first walked in at Ntirhisano Community Centre (NCC) early this week, he was excited by the fact that the space is available and meant for grassroots artists and activists. Makoti came back with other artists and without him saying it, it was clear that the atmosphere at Ntirhisano Community Centre (NCC) made the young men feel at home. 

They immediately and wholeheartedly engaged in discussions on Solidarity and also started rehearsals which left me spellbound. Their performance reminded me of the popular Resistance Culture that took down the apartheid regime. 

These young fellows have a way of articulating their ongoing socioeconomic miseries in a way that hits you deep into your consciousness. Even if you may not understand the meaning of the words. The rhythm, motions and sound will make you want to know where they were all this time. Their storytelling is striking and triggers nostalgia of mass solidarity. These young fellows will make you feel you are part of the storytelling and that Jericho's walls will fall again.

This is what NCC is precisely about. It was founded on the premises of resistance popular arts and cultures from which District Six, Sophiatown and Cato Manor mushroomed, in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, respectively. 

There are similar historical grassroots villages, communities, townships, towns and cities everywhere in the world. Where the poor, oppressed and marginalised are compelled to be independent and creative in sorting out livelihoods. In Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Mitchells Plain, Masiphumelele, and Marikana, challenges are endless. Whether formal, informal or illegal, their desperations are overwhelmingly caused by colonialism, apartheid and the present neo-colonial policies. 

Ntirhisano is committed to solidarity with resistance cultures. 

We will respond to the everyday lives of the poor and marginalised communities. 

And I feel honoured to announce that Ntirhisano will be hosting the first weekly radical open mic show, starting from this coming Friday, 18 November 2022. The show will start from 17h00 PM to 19h00 PM. At Ntirhisano Community Centre (NCC), Salt River, Cape Town

Purposely, the young Lions requested that I introduce the show by telling the audience what NCC is about. They also insisted I must express that no one deserves to be discriminated against because of their nationality. Because there are no borders in Africa. That the current borders are colonial and fake.

ALUTA CONTINUA. FREE ENTRANCE. COME ONE COME ALL.