CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY- ALAN PATON

CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY
This book was first published in 1948 and it tells the story of Rev. Stephen Kumalo, the Zulu pastor and his son Absalom. It is set in the troubled and changing South Africa of the 1940s. The pastor leaves his village in Natal to Johannesburg to search for his son who dissapeared. Johannesburg, is a city in despair, the wrath of apartheid everywhere......

Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart

THINGS FALL APART

Who can forget this wonderfully written, captivating novel which traces the life of Okonkwo from the Igbo tribe in Nigeria. This book was first published in 1958 and has since sold over 10 million copies. Okonkwo, a destined leader of his tribe, fear of failure motivates his life. He does not want to be like his father and is willing to do anything to maintain his social status, An accidental shooting rocks Okonkwo's life forcing to spend seven years in exile. When he returns, everything has changed...the white man has arrived.

MAYA ANGELOU - Phenomenal Woman

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand orFall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

By
Maya Angelou (African American)

Lebogang Mashile - When we were Africans

When we were africans
when we were africans
we knew the price of life
was paid from birth
the stagnant air was cleared
when mind
met heart
met soul
met deed
met word
a divine standard of excellence
an expression of worth
if I am better than the next man
in my truest self
I am worse in a world stripped of material
all that is left is work
the footprint on the pavement
of possibility is work
the harnessing of the heaven
promised to me is work
even death is a seed to work
until grace is a tree deserved

BY
Lebogang Mashile (South Africa)

MAYA ANGELOU - Still I Rise

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust,
I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air,
I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

By
Maya Angelou

A New Dawn

Blink Blink

Eyes open


To the sky, i look


Its a new dawn


Its a new day


Wonderful, I feel


Refreshed, I feel


Inspired, I feel





Hello, Africa