Togba-Nah Tipoteh

Knowledge means nothing if it is not shared with other people to help them better understand their respective circumstances and how to attend to the attendant problems. With this understanding of what knowledge means, the search for effective ways to communicate with people became most important for me. Over the years, eye contact and other body movements have helped me in communicating with people. Other helpful aspects have turned up in the forms of writing, singing, dancing, story-telling and theatrics. I first tried poetry over four decades ago and, somehow, it has stayed with me, becoming increasingly useful.

But, for this book, Pepperbird Bound for Freedom, I focus on the use of poetry to communicate with people. Clearly, the inspiration for my coming out with this book is Madiba Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. You can not imagine how I felt when I saw his fully straight back upon meeting him for the first time, in early 1992, to give support to the CODESA Talks, the Negotiations to transit South Africa from Apartheid rule to Democracy, the power of the people to take action in their own interest. Having learned about how Madiba Mandela was forced to break rocks, bending his back in prison for 27 years and now seeing him with a back straighter than mine, I concluded immediately that THIS IS THE BACK THAT BROKE THE BACK OF APARTHEID!

With this inspiration, I invite you to read and hopefully learn from this book, Pepperbird Bound for Freedom, dedicated to Madiba Mandela. You can find me through a web search of "Tipoteh at the 90th Birth Anniversary of Madiba Mandela", where I am presenting my Poem Mandela The Madiba to Madiba Mandela.