YOU ARE THESIS.

We all have individual and collective identities that battle, fuse & combine to make up our social reality.

I've been thinking for a while about whether the alter-ego theory can be applied to groups. I've always felt that it can but haven't been able to express it.

Then I came into contact with Thesis.

Thesis a fashion/lifestyle brand that has it's base in Mofolo, Soweto, Johazardousburg, South Africa.

It's run by five Sowetan youth who've been building the movement since 16 June 2007. But let me not say too much myself: here's an amateur video I put together from my various visits to Thesis over the past 6 months:



Thesis stands out to me because of the rich concept behind; its social dimensions and the way that it is aimed at changing people's approach to life.

Thesis pays homage to the slain youth of 1976, through it's opening date.

This conceptual link interests me. It shows the passage of time and the connectedness of history to the present. The youth of 1976 were fighting against being taught in Afrikaans - a language that clashed with their sense of identity.

In many ways language is a cornerstone of cultural identity because it determines your mode of thinking. I've heard that Native Americans couldn't grasp the concept of a wave crashing; they saw the wave continuing into the land, all because their language had no punctuation. There is no full stop.

In this way, if you are forced to speak a language, you are forced into a cultural mold & ultimately you will change.

The youth of 1976 wouldn't accept this imposition - they fought and died for their right to oppose Afrikaans cultural imperialism. It was a symbolic fight; one that said: we will not allow you to define our identity.

Identity is one of the great youth conundrums. Trying to figure out where you fit, what you want to become, who you want to be.

The old and wise advise: just be yourself.

The Thesis slogan speaks to this wisdom: "wear your own identity, culture, style and experience.”

Essentially, the concept of Thesis challenges South African youth, especially in the townships, to define/redefine themselves according to their own terms & then use this as a springboard to nurture a creative culture.

The youth create the future & by addressing our identity head-on, we create ourselves.

Thesis is an alter-ego for a collective, providing a portal to escape the boxes of what we think is impossible.

You are Thesis. I am Thesis. We are Thesis.

Check out my full profile on the Thesis Social Jam Sessions in the latest issue of one small seed

inside scoop makhathini's mind & a parting message

THE INTERVIEW

I recently had the opportunity to meet and pick the mind of a shining light, in my opinion - Scoop Makhathini aka Siyabonga Ngwekazi.

This dude's energy is fired up, with the heart of a lion, he inspires me to think bigger and do even bigger. And I think this is what we all need, so this is my feeble attempt to spread that energy far-and-wide and hope that it impacts on one of you.

[Please forgive the crappy editing, did it myself on a shitty programme, and the kak camerawork was done by me on a plain old camcorder. But I dig the old skool stylie!]



It's not much, but I hope you found something in it for you...

MY PARTING MESSAGE TO ALL

This will be my last post for the year 2010 AD, not that anyone really cares but hey...

We live in fuckin' interesting times. And we are a fuckin' interesting generation. We are the post-struggle youth and we have an interesting challenge: no enemy.

The problem is: every youth culture needs a mission, needs a battle, a revolution - an enemy. Nowadays, this isn't easy to work out. So many conspiracy theories, so many world issues, blah blah blah. PLEASE, we are over that bullshit, we need something real!

Right now, I say, we are our only enemy, because only we can stand in our way. The opportunity is ours to redefine this country and take it to new heights. All the doors are open. The world awaits us.

I believe that the undercurrent of this era is that of artrepreneurship (art+entrepreneurship).

The BEE entrepreneurs and tendrepreneurs had their time, but now enough young & smart black men and women have taken the path of professionalism to be able to relay the message: being a Chartered Accountant is actually NOT all that. No shit, Sherlock.

So where do we look to now? How do we define success if money isn't enough?

Yebo, this is the era of the artrepreneur. The creative making money. The artist managing his own business plan. The writer starting her own publishing house. It's been happening for decades, but now is the time for it to become mainstream.

This is the era of what Kid Cudi calls Weirdkind with weird being defined as "anybody who is a leader and follows their heart."

That leaves it open enough for all of you to do what you should best: DO YOU.

This is vital, because art is an expression of self and without knowledge of self there can be no art.

That's my prayer for 2011, for everyone and especially all the real ones out there to be more of themselves, to create original pieces of work and to feel tired as hell but satisfied as we enter 2012.

Big ups to all the artrepreneurs who are already leading the way for us to see how to manifest our visions into reality. You know who you are.

I believe that creativity can solve every problem on the planet.

I also think that a creative revolution is bubbling under in our country, and we as the youth are cracking out of a mindset boxed-in by politics for far too long and entering into a mindset opened by art.

Creativity is the new gold standard.

It's a big challenge: tapping into art and finding the side of yourself that isn't too shy or too scared to expose the world to the beauty within or too caught up just surviving to find the time to live.

I'm going to try my best to find this zone of creativity within myself so that I can contribute meaningfully and colourfully to this world. I don't know if I'll succeed, but I will put all my energy into it.

If you have it in you to do it, don't think twice, take the leap, do you, inspire others, and give me something dope to write about!

We are all in this life together, may LOVE multiply and may all our dreams be realized.