It's been almost 71 years post World War II, 22 years post apartheid system in South Africa and 20 years since my grandfather BMT4379-Cpt. Ben Makgate defunct. He lived 50 years of his 90 years without being officially acknowledged for liberating Europe during 1939-45. All these years, nothing has been done to honor colonial soldiers and to highlight the importance of African soldiers during both wars.

He was forcibly conscripted by the South African apartheid regime at the age of 31 and he was captured as a Prisoner Of War in Tobruk, Libya. He spent years in different Frontstalags 133,153, 171 & 221 in France, Italy and Germany. During their captivity he noted most of the traumatic humiliation, executions and crucifixion in his diary. He survived the war that had stretched around the globe, which killed over sixty (60) million people.
 

Post seven decades of holding on this horrific memoirs he handed the diary to his granddaughter Matilda TheeGreat and told her that; “this belongs to you now”. The question will be that; why did he give the diary to her? Another question that some people might ask is that; why did she wait for two decades before she begun with the project: Raise The Dead? As you know that everything happens for a reason even this handover and the waiting period happened for a purpose. Other related questions that makes me mercurial, of which I rather find absurd and idiotic is when people close to me ask that; did your grandfather write the diary about the happenings of war? It's an indication that they don't believe that a black man can write something about the war and according to them it should just be written from the white man’s side. I would even sense that they want to observe it first to believe it.

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To conclude the formation I would like to answer the question that is in most of people's minds. What is Raise The Dead? It is a ritualistic poetic ceremony to acknowledge African Soldiers whom fought during the World War II. The artistic project is guided by the information from one of the survivors of War Rev.Cpt. Ben Makgate - BMT4379. We are representing them, telling their history through a spiritual voices in a way that no one has done before. This is the concept of  Matilda TheeGreat, who followed the spiritual path because she is the chosen one. She realized that there is a need to indicate the importance of black colonial soldiers and it must be told in an artistic way because she is a poetess. She grouped African diasporic women from Southern and Eastern part of Africa to be featured in this project; namely: Jarita Freydank, Amora Bosco and Goitsy Freeverse Montsho, whom are artists as well.

The project is an extraordinary poetic scene to display African culture and identity especially when it comes to honoring our black ancestors. We are looking forward to exhibit the best performance ever. Raise the dead is an ongoing project, which will assist to raise funds for the diary to be published as a book, shooting documentary next year and to produce a film in the years to come.

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Come and join us as we celebrate Black History in Germany on the 04.02.2017 at S.U.S.I Interkulturelle Frauenzentrum, Bayerischer Platz 9, 10779 Berlin from 18h00 - 20h00....!