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Born Coloured : not ‘Born-free’
Culminating Experience project
By
Benjamin Jephta
My experience as a so-called ‘Coloured’ in post-Apartheid, democratic South
Africa. My attempt to unite South Africa and inspire greater self-worth within
Coloured communities
Born Coloured : not ‘Born-free’
● Dissecting my so- called ‘Coloured’ experience in post-Apartheid, democratic
South Africa
● Create music centred around themes important to the Coloured Experience.
•
•
•
•
Transformation
The Coloured Identity
The Black and Coloured Relationship
The Coloured Mentality
● I aim to bring awareness, inspire and create a sense of hope and unity within
the South African expierence
Compositional approach
Terence Blanchard “on the Verge’
§ Jazz
Christian Scott “emancipation procrastination”
§ Ghoema/Cape Jazz
Zim Ngqawana “Qula Kwedini”
§ Marabi music
Abdullah Ibrahim “the wedding”
§ Kwaito, Gqom
Derrick Hodge, Moses Molelekwa, Afrika Mkhize,
Keith Jarrett, Tribe, Mark Fransman, TkZee
Kaytranada and many more…
§ Hip Hop, Electronic
music
§ Afro Brazilian music
1. transformation
‘An incomplete
transition’
"South Africa was rated the most
economically unequal country in
world. Researchers found that racial
inequality is one of the most
prominent factors behind this."
(World Bank Group, 2018))
1. ‘An Incomplete Transition’
“Racialism is a deep decease in our social
political fabric; and for the next
generations, the responsibility of our
leaders in this generation is to clear the
ground in order for a healthy humanity to
take place. To redesign, reconfigure our
social space in order for that equality and
also human self-respect to begin to grow
again”
-
Dr Leonard Martin,
SABC Newsroom (2016, September 13) “Coloured debate” [video file]
retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSEc2-fEFKE&t=820s
APARTHEID &
The Population Registration Act
(1950)
● Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in
South Africa from 1948 – early 1990s
Population Registration Act (1950): Classified and divided South African citizen
and resident to be classified according to their race and ethnic group, namely,
White, Indian/Asian (1961), Coloured and Black
Coloured
Black
9% of population
79% of population
Descendants of Nguni people.
Coloureds are a multiethnic group native to
Southern Africa
They are: Xhosa, Zulu, Shangaan, Ndebele and
Swati people.
Their ancestry include Khoisan, Bantu, European
and East Asian or South Asian.
Population registration act
2. Coloured Identity
‘The
Ben-Dhlamini
Stomp’
Reclaiming my African Identity.
#GautengShutdown protest by First Nation Movement
‘the Ben-Dhlamini stomp’
Firstly I am African;
Politically I am Black;
Culturally I am Coloured
3. Black and Coloured
relations in South Africa
‘Kwaito Klopse’
“… relations between the two groups
are frequently based on a perceived
lack of similarity and a heightened
awareness of difference. “
(Brown, 2000)(Brown, 2000)
Klopse is a minstrel tradition born out of
the Abolishment of the Cape Slave trade
in 1834.
Variations of Klopse Grooves
Kwaito music is a variant of house music featuring the use of African
styles like marabi, kwela, mbaqanga/maskandi with electronic samples.
Variations of Kwaito beats
Pantsula dancing culture
is a derivative of this
music style
Kwaito Klopse groove
Piano & bass implies 4 over 5 separated by 8th note
Danilo Perez 5/4 clave
Merging of Klopse and kwaito kick pattern, played with more variations
“Kwaito Klopse” feat. Sakhile Moleshe [video]
What is the Coloured
mentality?
Investigating:
The South African Reconciliation Barometer
(SARB) (2015 – 2017)
And race based statistics around Poverty,
unemployment, Education, housing and
Crime
A sense of socio-economic
marginalization specifically when it
comes to employment
policies/oppurtunities as well as
public perception.
minimal Class Mobility
movement of individuals from
one social class to another
The perpetual cycle
feeding the
Disillusionment in current
administration
“White people own the country
and black people run the
country and we have no place
here”
Coloured Mentality
Development of a low self
concept and selfdestructive thinking
• 50% matric dropout rate
in Western Cape
• Less first year tertiary
registration
• gangsterism and drug
abuse
• High incarceration rate
•
•
•
obscured social identity
“Not Black enough, not white enough”
Highest homicide rate
Unemployment rate
41% Poverty Rate
4. The Coloured mentality
Born Coloured:
not ‘Born-free’
3-part suite
This reflects my hope for the self
empowerment of Coloured people
by breaking free from an Apartheid
mentality that was meant diminish
their self worth.
Part 1: Acceptance
Part 2: Metamorphosis
Part 3: Resurgence
1. Acceptance
Acceptance of who we are and
what we came from. This starts
with a dialogue
I portray this by creating a
unified statement upfront to set
the tone for what is still to
come
2. Metamorphosis
The process of ridding the
apartheid mentality to give rise
to a better sense of self.
The lament features a cyclic
melody that grows with
intensity as an underscore to a
bass solo.
I drew from the South African
choral tradition: 3 voices enter
independently to create one
unified sound
3. Resurgence
Reconfiguring the way people
see themselves to negate the
terms we were defined by.
piano ostinato with a hopeful
undertone that expands
harmonically, but the melody
remains constant
3. Resurgence
Reconfiguring the way people
see themselves to negate the
terms we were defined by.
The melody is simple and
moves parallel between the
three horns with the lead in the
alto.
The horns play rhythmically
loose and make use of vibrato
and glissandos to give it a
vocal-like quality.
A Section
Final thoughts
I do believe that the racial inequality in South Africa is not specifically a
coloured issue, but we cannot deny peoples lived experience. What makes
this issue important to me, is that here we have people that has been
denied their history and their place in South Africa. They are trapped in
terms of class and social mobility and as a minority community, they are
often overlooked.
Final thoughts
Going forward, Coloured people will have to reimagine an identity that is
not just stereotypical, but allows for different possibilities. What's important
for us as Black and Coloured South Africans is to understand these
multiplicity of identities through dialogue, so that we become aware of all
the different parts that make up our being and culture.
3. Resurgence
B Section
Personnel
Double/electric bass…………………………………………………...Benjamin Jephta
Drums/drumpad………………………………………………...………...Tyson Jackson
Percussion………………………………………………………………..…..Tareq Rantisi
piano/keys………………….………………………………………………..Noe Zagroun
trumpet/flugel…………………...……………………………………..Alonzo Demetrius
Alto sax……………………………………………………………………….Nerya Zidon
Flute/Tenor sax……………………………………………………………..Stephen Byth
Engineer…………………………………………………………………….....Liz Teutsch
Future plans
Continuing to develop my musical identity through this research
Album release Spring 2020
Present a longer/detailed version in schools and conferences
Move to NYC for my OPT year
Long term
Develop a music program in Cape Town with a that is based on the ‘Global Jazz
Institute’ model: Instilling a sense of Social justice within musicians.
Thanks
My Parents, Danielle, Amy, Sanjin and
Family
Recording personnel
Tyson Jackson.………………………………….. drums
Noe Zagroun……………………………………...…piano
Tareq Rantisi………………………………percussion
Nerya Zidon…...alto sax/consulting engineer
Alonzo Demetrius……….…trumpet/flugel horn
Stephen Byth……………………….Tenor sax/ flute
Liz Teutsh…....................……………………Engineer
Assistant engineers......Alonzo, Alexis & Yifei
The BGJI Family
All the students
Fellows and Faculty
Artistic Director: Danilo Perez
Managing Director: Marco Pignataro
Advisor: Bruno Raberg
Committee Member: Terri-lyne Carrington
Visiting Artists: Terri, John Patitucci, Ben Street,
Joe Lovano, George Garzone, Adam Cruz
Private instruction: John Lockwood, Susan Hagen
Funders
The Oppenhiemer Foundation, SAMRO Overseas
Scholarship, Richard Cock Foundation
Bibliography
Vollenhoven, Sylvia. The keeper of the Kumm, Cape Town, Tafelberg, 2016.
Various contributors. “Apartheid” Wikipedia.org . 23 June 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid
Brown, Kendrick (2000) "Coloured and Black Relations in South Africa: The Burden of Racialized Hierarchy,"Macalester
International: Vol. 9, Article 13.
Taylor, Matthew & Roman, Nicolette & Mwaba, Kelvin & Groenewald, Candice. (2011). Coloured Identity in Post-Apartheid South Africa: A Study of the New Experience of Personhood.
Makino, Kumkino (2013) "Public policy and transformation in South Africa after democratisation.” http://hdl.handle.net/2344/00010218 pages 1-9.
The Advocates for Human Rights (2017), SOUTH AFRICA: Equality and Non-discrimination Joint Stakeholder Report for the United Nations Universal Periodic Review
Research study/survey & statistics
Institute for justice and reconciliation: SA reconciliation Barometer Survey (2014, 2015 and 2017) : http://www.ijr.org.za/resources/
World Bank Group: Republic of South Africa Systematic Country Diagnostic (2018). An Incomplete Transition: Overcoming the legacy of exclusion in South Africa:
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/
Statistics South Africa (2017), Poverty trends in South Africa 2006-2015
Stats SA, http://www.statssa.gov.za, visited on 15 May 2019
South Africa Gateway: https://southafrica-info.com/, visited on 15 May 2019
Video
Multimedia Live (2018, October 12) “The blood of our people are calling': 'Blood Friday' #shutdown” [video file] retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_MqKQctcm4
SABC Newsroom (2016, September 13) “Coloured debate” [video file] retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSEc2-fEFKE&t=820s
Pansula dancers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vWdZI6-2-w
Capetown celebrates Minstrels Carnival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmVdndziiKk
Culminating Experience project
By
Benjamin Jephta
My experience as a so-called ‘Coloured’ in post-Apartheid, democratic South
Africa. My attempt to unite South Africa and inspire greater self-worth within
Coloured communities
Born Coloured : not ‘Born-free’
● Dissecting my so- called ‘Coloured’ experience in post-Apartheid, democratic
South Africa
● Create music centred around themes important to the Coloured Experience.
•
•
•
•
Transformation
The Coloured Identity
The Black and Coloured Relationship
The Coloured Mentality
● I aim to bring awareness, inspire and create a sense of hope and unity within
the South African expierence
Compositional approach
Terence Blanchard “on the Verge’
§ Jazz
Christian Scott “emancipation procrastination”
§ Ghoema/Cape Jazz
Zim Ngqawana “Qula Kwedini”
§ Marabi music
Abdullah Ibrahim “the wedding”
§ Kwaito, Gqom
Derrick Hodge, Moses Molelekwa, Afrika Mkhize,
Keith Jarrett, Tribe, Mark Fransman, TkZee
Kaytranada and many more…
§ Hip Hop, Electronic
music
§ Afro Brazilian music
1. transformation
‘An incomplete
transition’
"South Africa was rated the most
economically unequal country in
world. Researchers found that racial
inequality is one of the most
prominent factors behind this."
(World Bank Group, 2018))
1. ‘An Incomplete Transition’
“Racialism is a deep decease in our social
political fabric; and for the next
generations, the responsibility of our
leaders in this generation is to clear the
ground in order for a healthy humanity to
take place. To redesign, reconfigure our
social space in order for that equality and
also human self-respect to begin to grow
again”
-
Dr Leonard Martin,
SABC Newsroom (2016, September 13) “Coloured debate” [video file]
retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSEc2-fEFKE&t=820s
APARTHEID &
The Population Registration Act
(1950)
● Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in
South Africa from 1948 – early 1990s
Population Registration Act (1950): Classified and divided South African citizen
and resident to be classified according to their race and ethnic group, namely,
White, Indian/Asian (1961), Coloured and Black
Coloured
Black
9% of population
79% of population
Descendants of Nguni people.
Coloureds are a multiethnic group native to
Southern Africa
They are: Xhosa, Zulu, Shangaan, Ndebele and
Swati people.
Their ancestry include Khoisan, Bantu, European
and East Asian or South Asian.
Population registration act
2. Coloured Identity
‘The
Ben-Dhlamini
Stomp’
Reclaiming my African Identity.
#GautengShutdown protest by First Nation Movement
‘the Ben-Dhlamini stomp’
Firstly I am African;
Politically I am Black;
Culturally I am Coloured
3. Black and Coloured
relations in South Africa
‘Kwaito Klopse’
“… relations between the two groups
are frequently based on a perceived
lack of similarity and a heightened
awareness of difference. “
(Brown, 2000)(Brown, 2000)
Klopse is a minstrel tradition born out of
the Abolishment of the Cape Slave trade
in 1834.
Variations of Klopse Grooves
Kwaito music is a variant of house music featuring the use of African
styles like marabi, kwela, mbaqanga/maskandi with electronic samples.
Variations of Kwaito beats
Pantsula dancing culture
is a derivative of this
music style
Kwaito Klopse groove
Piano & bass implies 4 over 5 separated by 8th note
Danilo Perez 5/4 clave
Merging of Klopse and kwaito kick pattern, played with more variations
“Kwaito Klopse” feat. Sakhile Moleshe [video]
What is the Coloured
mentality?
Investigating:
The South African Reconciliation Barometer
(SARB) (2015 – 2017)
And race based statistics around Poverty,
unemployment, Education, housing and
Crime
A sense of socio-economic
marginalization specifically when it
comes to employment
policies/oppurtunities as well as
public perception.
minimal Class Mobility
movement of individuals from
one social class to another
The perpetual cycle
feeding the
Disillusionment in current
administration
“White people own the country
and black people run the
country and we have no place
here”
Coloured Mentality
Development of a low self
concept and selfdestructive thinking
• 50% matric dropout rate
in Western Cape
• Less first year tertiary
registration
• gangsterism and drug
abuse
• High incarceration rate
•
•
•
obscured social identity
“Not Black enough, not white enough”
Highest homicide rate
Unemployment rate
41% Poverty Rate
4. The Coloured mentality
Born Coloured:
not ‘Born-free’
3-part suite
This reflects my hope for the self
empowerment of Coloured people
by breaking free from an Apartheid
mentality that was meant diminish
their self worth.
Part 1: Acceptance
Part 2: Metamorphosis
Part 3: Resurgence
1. Acceptance
Acceptance of who we are and
what we came from. This starts
with a dialogue
I portray this by creating a
unified statement upfront to set
the tone for what is still to
come
2. Metamorphosis
The process of ridding the
apartheid mentality to give rise
to a better sense of self.
The lament features a cyclic
melody that grows with
intensity as an underscore to a
bass solo.
I drew from the South African
choral tradition: 3 voices enter
independently to create one
unified sound
3. Resurgence
Reconfiguring the way people
see themselves to negate the
terms we were defined by.
piano ostinato with a hopeful
undertone that expands
harmonically, but the melody
remains constant
3. Resurgence
Reconfiguring the way people
see themselves to negate the
terms we were defined by.
The melody is simple and
moves parallel between the
three horns with the lead in the
alto.
The horns play rhythmically
loose and make use of vibrato
and glissandos to give it a
vocal-like quality.
A Section
Final thoughts
I do believe that the racial inequality in South Africa is not specifically a
coloured issue, but we cannot deny peoples lived experience. What makes
this issue important to me, is that here we have people that has been
denied their history and their place in South Africa. They are trapped in
terms of class and social mobility and as a minority community, they are
often overlooked.
Final thoughts
Going forward, Coloured people will have to reimagine an identity that is
not just stereotypical, but allows for different possibilities. What's important
for us as Black and Coloured South Africans is to understand these
multiplicity of identities through dialogue, so that we become aware of all
the different parts that make up our being and culture.
3. Resurgence
B Section
Personnel
Double/electric bass…………………………………………………...Benjamin Jephta
Drums/drumpad………………………………………………...………...Tyson Jackson
Percussion………………………………………………………………..…..Tareq Rantisi
piano/keys………………….………………………………………………..Noe Zagroun
trumpet/flugel…………………...……………………………………..Alonzo Demetrius
Alto sax……………………………………………………………………….Nerya Zidon
Flute/Tenor sax……………………………………………………………..Stephen Byth
Engineer…………………………………………………………………….....Liz Teutsch
Future plans
Continuing to develop my musical identity through this research
Album release Spring 2020
Present a longer/detailed version in schools and conferences
Move to NYC for my OPT year
Long term
Develop a music program in Cape Town with a that is based on the ‘Global Jazz
Institute’ model: Instilling a sense of Social justice within musicians.
Thanks
My Parents, Danielle, Amy, Sanjin and
Family
Recording personnel
Tyson Jackson.………………………………….. drums
Noe Zagroun……………………………………...…piano
Tareq Rantisi………………………………percussion
Nerya Zidon…...alto sax/consulting engineer
Alonzo Demetrius……….…trumpet/flugel horn
Stephen Byth……………………….Tenor sax/ flute
Liz Teutsh…....................……………………Engineer
Assistant engineers......Alonzo, Alexis & Yifei
The BGJI Family
All the students
Fellows and Faculty
Artistic Director: Danilo Perez
Managing Director: Marco Pignataro
Advisor: Bruno Raberg
Committee Member: Terri-lyne Carrington
Visiting Artists: Terri, John Patitucci, Ben Street,
Joe Lovano, George Garzone, Adam Cruz
Private instruction: John Lockwood, Susan Hagen
Funders
The Oppenhiemer Foundation, SAMRO Overseas
Scholarship, Richard Cock Foundation
Bibliography
Vollenhoven, Sylvia. The keeper of the Kumm, Cape Town, Tafelberg, 2016.
Various contributors. “Apartheid” Wikipedia.org . 23 June 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid
Brown, Kendrick (2000) "Coloured and Black Relations in South Africa: The Burden of Racialized Hierarchy,"Macalester
International: Vol. 9, Article 13.
Taylor, Matthew & Roman, Nicolette & Mwaba, Kelvin & Groenewald, Candice. (2011). Coloured Identity in Post-Apartheid South Africa: A Study of the New Experience of Personhood.
Makino, Kumkino (2013) "Public policy and transformation in South Africa after democratisation.” http://hdl.handle.net/2344/00010218 pages 1-9.
The Advocates for Human Rights (2017), SOUTH AFRICA: Equality and Non-discrimination Joint Stakeholder Report for the United Nations Universal Periodic Review
Research study/survey & statistics
Institute for justice and reconciliation: SA reconciliation Barometer Survey (2014, 2015 and 2017) : http://www.ijr.org.za/resources/
World Bank Group: Republic of South Africa Systematic Country Diagnostic (2018). An Incomplete Transition: Overcoming the legacy of exclusion in South Africa:
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/
Statistics South Africa (2017), Poverty trends in South Africa 2006-2015
Stats SA, http://www.statssa.gov.za, visited on 15 May 2019
South Africa Gateway: https://southafrica-info.com/, visited on 15 May 2019
Video
Multimedia Live (2018, October 12) “The blood of our people are calling': 'Blood Friday' #shutdown” [video file] retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_MqKQctcm4
SABC Newsroom (2016, September 13) “Coloured debate” [video file] retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSEc2-fEFKE&t=820s
Pansula dancers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vWdZI6-2-w
Capetown celebrates Minstrels Carnival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmVdndziiKk
Media of
