Poet talks about the power of words
Female poet Maziko Booker Jones says artists in the country need to be careful with how they use words in the art, describing words as a powerful weapon.
The poet, who is also a youth activist studying political science at Catholic University (CU), gave the advice through a spoken word poem which she says is a reaction to musician Mwiza Chavura’s Ndizakupanga Rape song.
In the poem, she emphasizes that words have the power to create and destroy the society more than an atomic bomb can ever do.
“The power of words should never be underestimated. Even though devoid of physical human attributes, words as miniscule as they are, have the power to converge forces that create, destroy and alter social perspective”, reads the first stanza of the poem.
In an interview with The Nation, Maziko said she feels so irritated when she sees young people using their talent in music and poetry in the wrong way.
“My heart bleeds with anger and sadness when I see young people using God-given talent to incite sexual violence or any other form of violence in the society.
“I was angry when I heard that song. I could not hold my feelings towards the song that is why I wrote and recorded that poem so that he and everyone supporting him should know that women are not sex object,” said Maziko in an interview.
Rapper Chavura released a song titled Ndizakupanga Rape in which a persona is telling a woman that he will rape her for refusing to be in an affair with him.
The public condemned the song, describing it as a piece that is promoting sexual violence.
Maziko has, therefore, advised artists to use their talent to benefit the society. n
