brief bio

I am a cultural worker and visual artist, now living and working in Johannesburg.  I was born in the USA, went to secondary school in West Africa and then to university Madison, Wisconsin ( USA) where I studied sociology and fine arts.  I worked as a painter in Zambia from 1972 to 1975, doing occasional graphics for the South African liberation movement in Lusaka.  I lived in Swaziland from 1975 to 1980, where I taught at the Thokoza school for refugees from the Soweto uprising, and exhibited with sculptor Pitika Ntuli.  In 1980, I moved to Gaborone, Botswana, where I worked for five years with Medu Art Ensemble – this period gave true shape to my art, ideas, and life story.  The South Africn Defence Force attacked Gaborone on June 14, 1985, killing 12 people and destroying Medu. But I stayed Botswana after the Gaborone raid, working with the liberation movement. I moved to Johannesburg in 1990.  I have written on Medu Art Ensemble and the art of the liberation struggle. Today, I am still painting, doing graphics, and facilitating workshops on finding voice for people engaged in struggles for justice.