Tayari's Blog: "Spirit of No Surrender"

Posted by TayariJones on February 21, 2007 07:40 AM
Filed under Bookshelf

Young South African writer/filmaker, Nokuthula Mazibuko, is the World Literature Fellow here at George Washington University. Last night, she screened her documentary film "Spirit of No Surrender."

The film is an examination into the lives of the students and teachers who were at the center of the 1976 Soweto uprising. (There is more information about this historical event here, but in short the black South African school children marched in protest of the inferior education they received and were mowed down by the police. This ignited resistance movements all over the country.)

The subject matter is very personal to Nokuthula (pronounced Nok-TU-la) because one of the brave teachers is her own father. There is much to be admired about "Spirit of No Surrender", and I am most intrigued by her use of subtitles. The subjects of the documentary speak both English and IsiZulu, slipping easily from one to the other. The film maker provides subcaptions in English when the people are speaking IsiZulu and vice versa. The result is arresting. I had to become a more active viewer--sometimes listening, sometimes reading. I really felt myself to be at the lingual-crossroads that was at the center of the conflict.

If you missed last night's showing, never fear. Nokuthula has several other presentations scheduled for her time here in DC. She'll be giving a reading a of her fiction here at GW on March 1. On this coming Monday at 1pm, she'll be at the Library of Congress .

The rest of her schedule is below:

  • Monday, 2/26: Library of Congress 1-2PM – contact Ms. Laverne Page, mpag@loc.gov – in Dining Room A – free

  • Tuesday 2/27- Wed. 2/28 GapBuster Learning Center – all day 2/27 (visit 2 schools); on 2/28, talk to parents & community at GapBuster center, 6-8 PM

  • Thursday, 3/1: World Literature Residency Reading (from Spring Offensive) at 8pm, GWU Marvin Center, 3rd fl. Amphitheatre. Free and open to the public.

  • Saturday, 3/3: 2 PM, reading/talk, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, lecture hall, contact Dr. Jenke (DC Arts & Education Collaboratives – “Let’s Read for Africa” program)

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