It is no more a cry. Namibian Poetry

Subtitle: Namibian Poetry in Exile and Essays on Literature in Resistance and Nation Building
Editor: Henning Melber
Basler Afrika Bibliographien Namibia Resource Centre & Southern Africa Library
Basel, 2004
Soft cover, 15x21 cm, 99 pages, some bw-photos and illustrations

Publisher's announcement:

When It is no more a cry - Namibian Poetry in Exile was originally published in 1982 it was regarded as a documentation of culture in resistance hitherto unaccessible.

This reprint is supplemented by Essays on Literature in Resistance and Nation Building by the editor Henning Melber. They explore the place of this particular literature and poetry in Namibian society.

This volume offers access to a unique aspect in the history of the Namibian struggle for self- determination during a crucial period of time.

The testimony is aimed particularly to serve a new generation in Namibia, who has not lived through this important part of our history. The re-publication will help them to achieve a fuller understanding of a difficult and bitter time. It will also foster a better and clearer perspective on events in our present societies.

Given our current rite de passage or interregnum, the insights presented in these re-published texts are more than historical evidence. They offer lessons from the past for the present and the future. Dennis Brutus Henning Melber participated in the anti-colonial resistance led by SWAPO of Namibia since the mid-1970s. After Independence he served eight years as Director at The Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU) in Windhoek. Since 2000 he is Research Director at The Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala/ Sweden.

Contents:

Dennis Brutus: Preface
Henning Melber: Introduction to this Volume
It Is No More A Cry - Namibian Poetry in Exile (1982)
Acknowledgements
Preface by the United Nations Institute for Namibia
Henning Melber: Colonialism, Culture and Resistance: The Case of Namibia

Poems:

- Geraldt Tjozongoro: Good Old Days
- Shivute Shanumbundu: Before The White Man Came
- Tshuuteni Tshithigona: The Old Namibian Peasant
- Geraldt Tjozongoro: Namibian Contract Worker
- Mbunga wa Hoveka: My Mother
- Gerson Uaripi Tjihenuna: Cry The Land Between Two Deserts
- Edwin S. Ilukena: Namibia
- Karivazeua K. Hongoze: Evil Of The World
- Albert Siloka: The Turnhalle Circus
- Nguno Wakolele: We Are Leaving You
- Gerry Wilson Thobias: Tears Of Africa
- Franz Tshirunga: It Is No More A Cry
- Issiek A. Zimba: The Voice Of Namibia
- Franz Tshirunga: Freedom
- Johannes K. Kanyangela: For Anti-Imperialists
- Hinyangerwa Asheeke: I Know
- Nguno Wakolele: Omgulumbashe
- Nguno Wakolele: Kassinga
- Nguno Wakolele: Come On!
- Johannes K. Kanyangela: The Fighter's Courage
- Nguno Wakolele: Southern Africa
- Simon Thu Lilonga: Down!
- Johannes K. Kanyangela: Imperialism And Africa
- Albert Kawana: I Wish There Could Be No Southern Direction
- Tongeni: PLAN Fighters
- Thomas N. Nashongo: Night Caller
- Jimmy Seth Isaacks: Freedom Fighter
- Hinyangerwa Asheeke: A People's Warrior
- Servatius Sh. Aijambo: When Shall I Go

- Henning Melber: The Namibian Literature of Combat (1988)
- Henning Melber: "Transform the World": Towards Nation Building Through Culture in - Namibia (1994)
- Henning Melber: Postscript 2004

- Note on the Editor
- Note on Illustrations
- African Literature from the Basler Afrika Bibliographien

Shivute Shanumbundu: BEFORE THE WHITE MAN CAME

Before the white man came
My people were the happiest nation
If I have to make any comparison
They were working hand in hand
eating from one plate
happy with one mother being close sisters and brothers.
They had love from their motherland
They praised her for all she produced for them,
They had a surplus of almost everything they needed.
We have to defend out motherland
with all her resources
To protect our children we have
to have weapons.
To maintain peace we must be strong.
But before they could be prepared
To defend their motherland
The white man came with a
stronger force than the grandparents
Could offer, they tried their level best
but couldn't conquer the brutality of the whites.
Their happiness was destroyed
They were forced to wage a very
arduous struggle. Now their blood is peeling
on the battle fields but determined
to fight to the bitter end to win
the happiness they had before
the white man came.

Hinyangerwa Asheeke: I KNOW

Since the history of colonialism in my country,
Since the imperialist invasion of my beloved Namibia -
Racism, Apartheid, Oppression, Exploitation,
Yes I know - day to day enemy activities,
Brutal activities against the Namibian people.
And all along with these,
Daily the people moaned,
Detentions, torturings - killings,
Done to the innocent people,
Denied the right for independence.
Times and again attempts made,
Local confrontations,
Petitions, pamphlets and speeches,
Simultaneously oppression intensified,
More detentions, torturings and killings,
All done to the patriotic heroes,
Because of the firm stand they have,
Denouncing colonialism and racism,
Calling together the Namibian people,
For one common purpose and goal,
The national independence and liberation.
I know the stages that emerged
With the changing situations and pressures
Within the history of my colonised Motherland,
New attitudes and approaches,
New determinations and convictions,
And today, for more than a decade ago,
The Namibian struggle has reached a stage,
Marked by the nature it reflects -
A stage where no longer the mouth,
No more the tongue,
No more the repeated words,
But the barrel that thunders,
The muzzle that spits fire and
The bullet that hits and destroys
The enemy target for ever -
Are the decisive factors to freedom.
The enemy knows and concerns,
The enemy manipulates and maneouvres,
Daily signs of desperation he shows.
But the wind is stronger -
The national independence inevitable
To the Namibian people, dedicated and determined -
The goal is sacred for gaining,
Through the Barrel of the Gun.