Today we want
to thank you, dear Lord
for what you have already done & given
Everything that happens
is Thy Will
You are the One
that gave us Bra Hugh
Only you alone knew
for how long
You are the One and Only
that took him away
Only you alone know
the mystery of life & death
We will not wait
until his ashes
are buried in African soil
Dust to dust
We are not going to wait
until buildings & streets
are renamed after him
We are not going to wait
until the poems have been recited
& the speeches written & presented
in the backdrop of soul haunting music
& images of inequality
We cannot wait
until men without shoes
have bought new ones
to avoid being chased away
and those who complain
about the design
of their suits & dresses
have their orders delivered
to portray the profile
of being “somebody” important
We wish to thank you right now
We cannot wait
until Bra Hugh wakes up
to see that we now dress
like Africans,
whatever that means
We are not going to wait
until haters say sorry
for the things they said
about Bra Hugh
& the way they treat some mourners
Or until his detractors
retract their condemnation
of this son of the soil
The worst thing
that could have happened
to this special man boy would be
for people not to talk about him
Everybody good & bad
have something good or bad
to say about him
That, in itself, will not take
anything away from him
He was who he was true to self
It is what it is
We are not going to wait
until the tears dry up
& the pain is gone
In fact, that is not going to happen
anytime soon
We shall allow those
who want to mourn & lament him
including watching proceedings on TV
to do what they need to do
to bring closure
It is the end of an era
We want to thank you right now
for a strong & courageous manchild
who did not want us
to shed any tears for him
He gave us the serenity
to accept that
which we cannot change
Not all will be on the list
for a private burial
It is what it is
exclusive
We are not interested to know
what his financial situation was like
or who he owed for this or that
What we know
is that he has paid all his dues
done everything
that needed to be done
which has been done
There is nothing to add
We want to thank you
for this great son
who brought nothing to the world
& will take
no material wealth with him
Nothing at all
Dust to dust
Ashes to ashes
All we have now
that which he left
are the footprints
of love care & tenderness
in the hearts
of those he touched
We are not going
to seek his children
or wake them up
to tell them
what a legend & icon
their father was
We are not interested
in the number of women
he married or did not
There will always
be hangers-on & opportunists
who will want to use his passing on
to claim
how much Bra Hugh loved them
But they have nothing to say
about how they loved him
or to show how they supported
to institutionalize
his dream & vision
for an Academy of African Arts
to promote protect & preserve
African arts, culture, history & heritage
We just want to thank you right now
that he had a dream & a vision
for a man or woman
without a dream
nor a vision
is like a broken winged bird
that cannot fly
We thank you
for this visionary & dreamer
His stubborn spirit lives
without any rest
until there is
justice for all
We are not going to wait
until we are accredited
to be VVIPs
that will be part
of the throngs of family
& selected friends
privileged to attend
a special exclusive funeral
We understand
Bra Hugh was a popular
& highly gifted artist
yet a simple & ordinary man
who did not desire
any special treatment
by a government he felt
was constantly betraying its promises
to the people
We are going to admit right here & now
that not everybody understood
that Bra Hugh
was a talented musician
who was a radical revolutionary
Above all, he desired
that African people determine
their own fate
to own the mineral wealth
of their land & country
Every nation belongs to its own
We want to thank you right now
for this son of the soil
who has been aptly defined as
a quintessential Pan Africanist
for that is what he was
to all those few with eyes to see
We are not going to wait
until the liberation movement
transforms itself
into a sleek political party
that transcends
man-made problems
of bribery, corruption
We are not going to wait
until the violence
& deadly political divisions
have been resolved
& the leadership knows
the genuine meaning of unity
an ideal that Bra Hugh lived for
the return of the land & country
to its indigenous owners
We know things
will not get easier
anytime soon
This is a time
of “phuma ngingene”
It is our turn to eat
where everyone seeks
to be prominent & important
through the ill-gained money
& more money in their bank accounts
that will always
be accumulated
at the expense of Bra Hugh’s people
We have become
part of a system
we fought against
Gobblization it is
we in the belly of the beast
We are going to thank you right now
for this man
that you gave a trumpet
at a tender young age
to blow it so loud
to bring down the walls
of inequality and injustice
We must thank you right now
for the consciousness & renaissance
that he espoused & lived
Justice & equality for all
Some among us feel
strangely alive today
brushing shoulders
with the living dead
who have sold out
for personal interest & recognition
We want to thank you right now
for Bra Hugh who made the lowly
feel kingly & uplifted them
through the power of music
in death
We are thanking you right now
Bra Hugh has joined the dead
that are not dead
He is said
to have fought death to the end
But how could a man
who loved & lived life to the full
not know that
the fear of death is the fear of life
for life & death are twins
His spirit lives forever
We will celebrate his music
We are thanking you
for you are the One & Only
who sent us the Son of Man
who walked through
the apartheid valley
of death & destruction
& came out alive
Today those who chose
to have a role model
who has shown the way
that Africans have the ability
& opportunity to give the world
a human face
to turn Azania
not into a gangsters paradise
but a beautiful land
of equality & justice
We thank you Lord
for giving Bra Hugh
the spiritual resilience
not to give up
in the face of bribery & corruption
an inherently evil system
that lures Africans to forget
who they are as a people
who are the cradle of human kind
We thank you
for you have forgiven us
for teaching our children
foreign tongues
while they cannot speak
indigenous languages
that carry their intelligence
& creativity
the culture & soul of the nation
We wish to acknowledge
that Bra Hugh
exhorted African women
to not wear other people’s hair
to learn to love & accept themselves
as they are the original people
created in your image & likeness
We are not going to wait
for another hour or day
but wish to express
our profound & profuse thankfulness
to the life & times of Bra Hugh
before he wakes up
from the dead
Thank you God
We also thank
the African ancestors
for everything
that we have received
through Bra Hugh
We know through him that
God is one of us