r.i.p. south african poet and earl sweatshirt’s father keorapetse kgositsile

Celebrated South African poet laureate and anti-apartheid activist (and father of Earl Sweatshirt) Keorapetse Kgositsile died Wednesday at age 79 in a Johannesburg hospital. Remembered for his publishings in anti-apartheid newspaper New Age, his prolific poetry, African National Congress Kgositsile’s legacy touched many throughout the black literary in S.A. and in the States, where he spent many years in exile, and artists in the hip-hop world, like The Last Poets.

We begin 2018 on a very sombre note with the passing of one of South Africa’s most influential and exceptional poets, who went on to become the wRite Association’s National Poet laureate & a member of @ArtsCultureSA‘s Living Legends Legacy Programme, Prof Keorapetse Kgositsile. pic.twitter.com/ydjjl1jyD5

— Min. Nathi Mthethwa (@NathiMthethwaSA) January 3, 2018

RIP, Keorapetse Kgositsile. thank you for being kind to me.

“no frightened tear ever rolls on
to the elegance of fire. I have
fallen with all the names I am
but the newborn eye, old as
childbirth, must touch the day
that, speaking my language, will
say, today we move, we move ?” pic.twitter.com/K24nCk8o1x

— Safia Elhillo (@mafiasafia) January 3, 2018

For those who don’t know Professor Keorapetse Kgositsile, I’m just going to thread one of my favourite things about him: how he played an important role in the founding of Hip Hop.

— Aunty Noba♡ (@NovaTruly) January 3, 2018