The Black Speech

Kebonyemodisa Reynolds Mothupi is a poet of note whose voice we can only ignore at our own great peril. His is the voice of a poet who, as none other than the great African writer and poet Chinua Achebe taught us, is on a mission to fulfill his role as both teacher and healer in the community. He does this by shining his light on us in order to give us direction and hope when only gloom, despair and utter darkness seem to be the only options on the table. Hence in this collection of poems - an oeuvre and body of work ranging in focus from themes of romantic love, male contrition at lost love, condemnation of poverty and social injustice, a rejection of racism and an affirmation of our common humanity to a celebration of the life and work of author Bessie Head whom he describes as a 'woman ahead of her time' and whose words and writings will continue to resonate future generations even after she herself has long departed this world. The reader will find that there is something for everyone, lessons to be gleaned from the poet as teacher and conscience of his society, by all and sundry, from different walks of life. This is certainly a book worth reading, for it provides us with the right coordinates as we navigate our increasingly complex world of economic modernization and cultural globalization.