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Make best use of your talents for society’s good
 15th December 2009: Tanzanian born artist Jacqueline Kibacha also known as the Pretty Poet has a passion for words and a heart to raise the voice of the voiceless in the society.
She is a creative strategist, using her poetry to document the struggles that the woman experiences. With her project management background, this beautiful London-based poet endeavours to set up projects that use creativity to address some of these struggles.
Jacqueline is convinced that “poetry is a form of talking therapy, a channel for thoughts and feelings that would otherwise be internalized and a way to educate the community in a manner that is accessible to the majority.”
Her pre-poetry performance background has been in acting and singing. She is a soloist in various choirs, from classical to gospel, and also the lead female vocalist of a reggae-funk band in the North East of England. Her creative influences are artists such as Lauryn Hill and Nina Simmone who match the weight and richness of their voice with lyrical content that is thought provoking and socially aware.
Jacqueline has always enjoyed creative writing and is fascinated by the power of words. It was during her time at University where she studied Fine Art and became involved in organising music events, that she cultivated an eclectic taste in music and started to experiment with sounds and words.
In her pieces she fuses the love for words with music, collaborating with DJs, musicians and producers to create poetry with a purpose beyond words on a page.
 Jacqueline loves the sound of drums. “I love mixing ancient cultures with modern beats, putting intimate words and real emotions over eclectic melodies.
She is convinced each of us should make best use of his/her talents for the good of the community. “God gave me a gift. He gave me words, and when I meet Him, face to face, I would like Him to say He’s pleased with me for using them well,” she says.
She is currently working on her first collection of poetry “EP- Walk it Out”, produced by French producer Dr. Do. “It’s about the revolution we must have within ourselves in order to embark on a revolution in the environment around us,” she says.
The collection set to be released next year, represents an overflow of thoughts, feelings and observations. It gives a voice to internal struggles that we all can face and aims to motivate and give hope. The collection is a collaborative work with both mainstream and underground writers and artists of the black community. “It will also look at ways to re-birth culture and the positives that come out of the Black community, a way of encouraging and inspiring Black writers and artists to be true to themselves and proud of their culture in expressing their art form,” she says.
 The launch of the collection will be a part of the work to engage women of the Diaspora in the arts and encourage the use of poetry as therapy and expression.
Jacqueline’s exceptional work made her be nominated for a Black Entertainment Fashion Film and Arts (BEFFTA) Award this year.
She did a poem titled “Contentment” that was distributed at the recent London Conference “Redefining Sanity”. The poem aimed at reducing the disturbing rate of suicide amongst young Black men and also to address the disturbing levels of inequality in access to mental health treatment in the form of talking therapies.
Apart from poetry and community work, Jacqueline loves to promote contemporary African fashions. “I love to wear and promote labels by designers we know and not just high street generic styles,” she says.
JACQUELINE KIBACHA’S LINKS
www.prettypoet.co.uk
http://itsprettypoet.blogspot.com
By Stephen Ogongo
POEM: Mean Love
A love that was so gentle, so sweet, so clean
Has turned so ugly, so mean
I don’t mean to be dramatic
But the pressure I’m under, to keep the faith
The weight I’m under to keep this love awake
Is taking its toll on me
Doesn’t love set free?
So why is it imprisoning me?
Why do the bars that sang of love
Now lock me in?
Why does the hope I had for us now appear so dim?
Why do the dreams of flying high now bring me low?
I ask so many questions but nobody knows.
(And I cry out to God coz he’s the only one who sees
And I cry out to God coz he untangles me
And I cry out to God to set my heart free
I cry out to God so he carries me)
Hitting each other, with words
But it’s the silence that causes the hurt
That twists the knife
Your wife? Your sister? Your friend?
Then why am I wondering if this is the end? Already.
If I’m all of that to you
Then why is it so easy for you
To know what it is that causes me pain
And then purposely do it to me again and again
But I’m a woman that knows what it is to be a queen
The things I’ve been through, the things I’ve seen
I don’t mean to be dramatic
But it’s taken pressure to produce a gem this unique
And when I speak about my feelings and my fears
In retrospect I feel it’s fallen on contaminated ears
Coz it’s like you don’t know me
Or you don’t wanna know me
You don’t wanna hear what I’m saying
You don’t see the game that you’re playing
I hope it doesn’t fall on blocked up ears
Coz it’s taken years
To understand that it doesn’t take a man
To make my existence valid.
But when you allow each sweet word of love
To build you up
Then it opens you up
So each sharp word of hate
Has direct access to break your heart
By Jacqueline Kibacha aka Pretty Poet
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Immigration in UK
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