Discussing the Black American Experience with Nono The Poet
By Natalie Benoit
Nomxolisi Ndlangana is a spoken word artist, poet, writer, and author, better known as Nono The Poet. The former South African resident now lives and works in New York City, dividing her time between writing and performing. She wrote and self-published a collection of her poems into the book, “Soul Vagina: In Between Sex and God, Who Am I?” She recently performed and shared more about her book on Find Your ID NYC’s PYNKTALKS series Sunday, July 5.
Nono The Poet says her connection with writing began from a young age. Her desire to write and create poetry was always inside of her—she believes she was destined for it.
“The Lord, the universe, this spirit, that pushed me. I used to say, ‘why couldn't I just be passionate about biology or science,’ so I could be a doctor. Because it's [writing] such a difficult industry to be in… Don't come into this if you're trying to make money, you know what I mean, it’s for that. So it’s always been in me.”
During the interview, Nono explained that she grew up in the church, and even though she is not very religious, she is deeply spiritual. “I’m connected to the universe. I understand that there are powers that work that are beyond me. So when I feel that, I look to them, I pray, I meditate.”
The spoken word artist explained how she moved from South Africa to New York City to pursue higher education at Hunter College. “I’ve always wanted to come to New York since I was a little girl. So coming here was like the beginning of the rest of my life,” Nono shared.
She eventually received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Studies and launched her professional career in 2011 as a spoken word artist. Nono began performing and sharing poetry at small stages in Harlem, working her way up to international recognition at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.
“I always had this feeling like I want to make an impact on a global scale. The message that I received from the universe ‘was okay, you got to go to New York.’ I always had this, need, and want to come to New York. It wasn't difficult at all, you know you would think that leaving behind your entire family…When you know you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, it makes it easier.”
Ndlangana’s first published book was released in 2017, but the New York City-based author is far from done. She’s currently working on a children’s book. She says she started the new writing project now in response to the modern civil rights movement America is currently experiencing.
“As a writer, my job is to tell stories. I want to move you in some in some shape or form. I want to leave you elevated a little bit higher than before you picked up my book… I wanted to do something artistic, but I couldn't find it. Then it just came to me as it always does, it came to me as a children's book.”
The 2020 resurgence of the Black Live Matter Movement has played a vital role in the current social activism across the United States. Nono believes a children’s book that touches on the Black experience and topic of race is her contribution to the conversation. “It truly does begin with them because it doesn’t matter if we have all these systems in place, all these reforms if, at home, we’re raising racists,” she further explained.
“You want to set it up so that the conversation starts very early on. And if you want to call it indoctrination of not being a racist, then fine, go for it. But start early because their minds are so malleable.”
In 2017 Nono wrote a poem titled “Because of Michael in Ferguson,” which speaks to the injustices and issues many Black Americans encounter. Find Your ID NYC Instagram and Facebook followers saw the author perform a newer poem focused on the Black American experience during the 11th PYNKTALK episode.
“Until we stop dying until we stop getting killed, until you know there's equality, then yes for as long as I live and breathe I absolutely will be writing pieces like that.”
The intersection between being Black and being a woman is also significant in how Ndlangana identifies. She acknowledges how the world is especially cruel to Black women, and “you have to be stronger, you have to be tougher. You have to be smarter.”
The conversation around the Black female experience needs to happen more commonly, Nono emphasized. She was happy I even brought up the topic during the interview.
“We need to talk about our Black women. When I write, it’s for women, women from every creed, color, religion, everywhere because these are things that affect us all over the world. Because no matter where you are, we’re still living in a man’s world.”
For all the women, especially Black women reading this, don’t lose hope. People like Nono The Poet will never relinquish their passion and desire to empower, embolden, and support fellow women. “I will continue to perform. I will continue to put out content that makes you feel good about you as a Black woman,” she elaborated.
Aside from the children’s book, Ndlangana has another exciting project she isn’t ready to reveal just yet. “It’s a reveal of who I am in ways I have never revealed before. And I know this is going to impact people in a very dramatic way.” She says the new project is sharing her voice in a way she has never found it before.
However, unlike many may believe, the coronavirus quarantine did more harm than good for this writer. “It was a struggle. I mean, I had the worst writer’s block. I could not access anything. Anything I wrote was just garbage.” The solitude and lack of “external stimuli” gave Nono a terrible case of writer’s block. “Whether it’s stressful or not, the fact that it’s just stimuli gives me something, it prompts me to write…Quarantine, it was just silence, me and silence and food,”
The South African native later shared some thoughts for the Black Americans dealing with the type of racism seen during and post-apartheid. “They’re still putting us down. They’re still shooting us with rubber bullets. They’re still using gas and they’re still doing these things, but we’re still standing out there with dignity and respect. And asking nicely for equal treatment, because we are dignified people. We always have been.”
Nono highlighted her point by mentioning Nelson Mandela’s experience “who went to prison for 27 years for his country. That man epitomizes dignity. He came out of there with no malice and that's the kind of people that we are and that no matter what you do to us still, this is who we will be.”
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