“SOUTH” is the entry point (Genesis) on The Medicine Wheel… the first of four cardinal directions and steps one takes to obtain wisdom and power in order to become the equivalent of a sangoma (shaman) who brings harmony and well-being to the community & humanity. Honoring the circular pattern of our cosmos, The Medicine Wheel has been used in indigenous cultures for eons to represent the organic cycles of life/nature within the womb of time – thus honoring Divine Feminine Mysteries and their potential. Following the four cardinal directions, the would-be sangoma proceeds clockwise on The Medicine Wheel to the “WEST” (land of sunsets & introspection); followed by the “NORTH” (where knowledge & wisdom have flowered in relation to “SOUTH”); & finally “EAST” – land of the rising sun where, through the successive challenges and phases of her journey, she has now obtained her own sovereign terms of enlightenment (Revelation).

In African traditional culture this state of enlightenment is referred to by the unity-conscious BaNtu term UbuNtu – meaning “I Am, because We Are…” Of this traditional philosophical concept and practice, Desmond Tutu wrote:

“In our African worldview, we have something called ubuntu. In Xhosa, we say, “Umntu ngumtu ngabantu.” This expression is very difficult to render in English, but we could translate it by saying, “A person is a person through other persons.” We need other human beings for us to learn how to be human, for none of us comes fully formed into the world. We would not know how to talk, to walk, to think, to eat as human beings unless we learned how to do these things from other human beings. For us, the solitary human being is a contradiction in terms.

Ubuntu is the essence of being human. It speaks of how my humanity is caught up and bound up inextricably with yours. It says, not as Descartes did, “I think, therefore I am” but rather, “I am because I belong.” I need other human beings in order to be human. The completely self-sufficient human being is subhuman. I can be me only if you are fully you. I am because we are,  for a delicate network of relationships, of interdependence with our fellow human beings, with the rest of creation.

I have gifts that you don’t have, and you have gifts that I don’t have. We are different in order to know our need of each other. To be human is to be dependent.”

Africa’s cultural expression upholds this elixir largely thru its oral traditions & respect for Divine Order & Balance, known as Ma’at in Khmt/ancient Egypt – the continent’s NORTH which depends on the flow of the sacred Nile River from the SOUTH [humanity’s African womb]. Despite the ravages of slavery, colonialism, apartheid, etc. imposed by dividers-&-conquerors from the WEST, Africa’s cultural custodians have played a civilizing role in the spaces of their Eurocentric division & dispersion, often through their mastery of time travel. Prince, one of Africa’s several cultural custodians – whose 27th studio album N.E.W.S (after the 4 cardinal directions) was released in 2003 – once said that, “Emotionally, I stay centered thru music. It’s the best medicine in the world.” Like Sheba, Queen of the ancient SOUTH who sought “the wisdom of Solomon” whilst bearing her own sovereign light [Ref: ❤ ❤ ❤ Sheba’s Tribulation… The Language She Cries In…], others who’ve used Africa’s oral-aesthetic medicine to convey collective messages from the SOUTH include:

South African songstress Dorothy Masuka [9/3/1935 – 2/23/2019], known fondly as “Aunty Dorothy,” & was descended from a sangoma – her maternal grandmother who would visit her musically-gifted granddaughter from the spiritual realm through dreams. Masuka credits this sacred sangoma ancestor as being a major source of her musical inspiration from an early age. From the start of her career Masuka endeared herself to a wide audience, but the political content of her compositions such as Lumumba (of Congo) and Dr. Malan (an anti-apartheid song) led to her exile following the apartheid government’s ban over her recordings. Masuka continued to campaign through song for African liberation during her exile in Malawi and Tanzania, inspiring many. Her work entitled Mzilikazi paid tribute to one of Emperor Shaka Zulu‘s greatest warriors who founded the Ndebele people of Zimbabwe and South Africa.

❤ ❤ ❤ Dorothy Masuka ~ Mandela:

South African singer and activist, Zenzile Miriam Makeba [3/4/1932 – 11/10/2008], fondly referred to as “Mama Africa,” was a contemporary of Aunty Dorothy. Pata Pata – one of Makeba’s most renowned songs that peaked at #12 on Billboard in 1967 – is said to have been written by Dorothy Masuka. Musically famous in South Africa by the late 1950s, it was Makeba’s appearance in the 1959 documentary Come Back, Africa that attracted the interest of Harry Belafonte [3/1/1927 – 4/25/2023] in America where her singing and recording career reached new levels of success, thus giving her activism a greater platform. Makeba’s activism included support of Kenya’s independence from British colonial rule, whereafter she and Belafonte became VIP performers at the Independence celebrations at the invitation of President Jomo Kenyatta. Makeba was the only performer at the meeting in Addis Ababa that led to the formation of the Organization for African Unity. She also testified before the UN Special Committee against Apartheid, asking for economic sanctions and an arms embargo against South Africa’s National Party government. This activity, along with the increasingly political content of her music caused the apartheid government in South Africa to revoke Makeba’s passport & ban her music, whereafter she lived in exile for 3 decades.

In 1964 she married trumpeter Hugh Masekela, a fellow South African in exile and protégé of Harry Belafonte. Masekela wrote the protest song Makeba performed entitled Soweto Blues about the 1976 uprising in Soweto. The 1960s also saw Makeba’s involvement with Civil Rights, anti-apartheid, Black Consciousness, and Black Power movements grow. She later married Black nationalist Stokely Carmichael [Kwame Toure] in 1968 who relocated with her to Guinea, West Africa. Encouraged by Nelson Mandela who had just been released from his 27-year imprisonment by South Africa’s apartheid regime, Mama Africa returned in 1991and performed in her home country for the first time since her exile. 

❤ ❤ ❤ Miriam Makeba Mandela Tribute:

Born and raised in Soweto, Letta Mbulu [8/23/1942 -] had a singing career since the 1960s but left South Africa for America in 1964 because of Apartheid. In New York Mbulu connected with Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela and other South African exiles, while proceeding to work and tour with artists such as Cannonball Adderley and Harry Belafonte. Married to South African musician Caiphus Semenya since 1966, Mbulu’s personal resume includes singing in the 1977 miniseries Roots; movies A Warm December [1973] & The Color Purple [1985]; founding the South African Artists United (SAAU) organization in 1986; and performing the Swahili chant in Michael Jackson’s “Liberian Girl” [7/4/1989]. Quincy Jones reportedly said of her: “Mbulu is the roots lady, projecting a sophistication and warmth which stirs hope for attaining pure love, beauty, and unity in the world.” Amakhamandela  [a Xhosa word meaning “shackles”] is the title of a song co-written/arranged by Semenya & released in 1993 by Mbulu conveying that in the African community it’s “Not yet Uhuru” – Swahili for Freedom/Independence

The phrase “Not yet Uhuru” was brought to life shortly after Kenya’s independence in 1963 by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga who was then Kenya’s Vice President. Oginga resigned from the government citing lack of political cooperation from Kenya’s first President Jomo Kenyatta. In his book titled “Not Yet Uhuru,” Oginga highlights the political killings, poverty, nepotism & corruption in Kenya including scenarios where Kenyatta had been installed by the outgoing British colonial power whose alienating practices continued to be upheld after Uhuru. Uhuru is also the name that was given to Kenyatta’s son who eventually became Kenya’s elected 4^th President [2013 – 2022] after defeating Oginga’s son, Raila Amolo Odinga.

❤ ❤ ❤ Letta Mbulu ~ Amakhamandela (“Shackles”… Not Yet Uhuru):

The Mandela Effect is a term used to describe an observed phenomenon in which a large segment of the population misremembers a significant event thus creating an incorrect memory of it; distorts existing memories and the visuals or spelling of words, quotes, names, product logos, etc.; falsely contextualizes an event that occurred; or shares a memory of an event that did not actually occur. Sometimes compared to déjà vu, The Mandela Effect term was coined by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome while attending a conference in 2010 where she discovered that many attendees shared her incorrect memory that Nelson Mandela had died in prison during the 1980s.

Nelson Mandela [7/18/1918 – 12/5/2013] was released from prison after 27 years on February 11, 1990, an event witnessed all over the world due to increasing interest following his arrest for campaigning against South Africa’s Apartheid system. He was originally incarcerated in maximum security prisons at Robben Island [1964-1982] & then at Pollsmoor Prison until late 1988. During this period of incarceration Mandela refused offers of freedom from the Apartheid government: one that was conditional upon him recognizing the highly controversial status of the Transkei Bantustan and agreeing to reside there [1976]; & another that required him to renounce the use of violence [1985]. Mandela was later transferred to low-security Victor Verster Prison after being treated for tuberculosis in December 1988 where he served 14 months until his release on February 11, 1990. Mandela went on to serve as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. 

Throughout his life, Nelson Mandela was conferred with various names and titles, including the following (some referenced in Queen Masuka’s “Mandela” video above):

• Nelson was the name given to Mandela on his first day at school in the village of Qunu by his teacher, Ms. Mdingane. Perhaps she was under the colonial influence of “baptizing” African children with English monikers that were commonly referred to as “Christian” names and were easier for European foreigners to pronounce.
• Rolihlahla – a Xhosa name that means “pulling the branch of a tree” – was the birth name given to Mandela by his father, Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Henry. Colloquially Rolihlahla means “troublemaker.”
• Dalibhunga – meaning “creator/founder of the council” or “convenor of the dialogue” – is the name Mandela was given following his Xhosa initiation/rite-of-passage into manhood at the age of 16.
• Madiba – the name of the clan which Mandela belonged to was named after a Thembu chief who ruled in the Transkei in the 18^th century. It’s a mark of importance and polite traditional practice to refer to the ancestor from which a person is descended by their clan’s name rather than their surname.
• Tata – the Xhosa word for “father” – is the term many South Africans fondly use for Mandela, regardless of their age since he obtained worldwide status as a father figure who stood against apartheid.
• Khulu – another name used by speakers when referring to Mandela, is abbreviated from the Xhosa word “Tat’omkhulu,” meaning “grandfather”…the “Great & Paramount One.”

“Only the black woman can say when and where I enter, in the quiet, undisputed dignity of my womanhood, without violence and without suing or special patronage, then and there the whole …race enters with me.” [Dr. Anna Julia Cooper, 1892]… UbuNtu – Humanity’s sovereign unity-conscious elixir is bringing back Revelation, Enlightenment, & Reparations from the SOUTH …“Indeed, a greater than Solomon is here” ~ ❤ ❤ ❤ Blessed Be 🕊️🕊️🕊️