There is a fervor that only young people possess. When one thinks of most catalytic moments that have changed the course of history young people are at the fore. Whether negatively or positively the youth cannot be denied their rightful inheritance; tomorrow belongs to them. In the Zulu language, there is a saying that says “ligotshwa lisemanzi”. A loose interpretation of the saying is that it is important to pay particular attention to young people, to mold them because in their youth it is when they possess the greatest energy and ability to learn. In most African cultures there is an equivalent of the saying. It is what Gwendolyn Brooks was trying to express when she wrote the poem titled We Real Cool. She was expressing that it is the youth that possesses the purest spirit of rebellion, of turning things upside down even if death is the outcome.
It is for these reasons that the Spin Venek Manual by Sabelo Soko is important because, at the most basic level, it is concerned with ways in which we incorporate the youth in difficult but important conversations. The manual is interested in engaging in a dialogue with young people regarding how we can radically change the almost unbearable conditions that they find themselves in. What anchors the manual is the idea of a collective black experience –how we can use it to co-exist. Perhaps what would be called Ubuntu but the Spin Venek manual reads Ubuntu not as a static idea but as a living one that takes into account contemporary developments and problems. The Spin Venek manual is an important theoretical intervention that boldly pushes young people to take practical measures to shape their future.
Spin Venek is no ordinary manual — it does not do what self-help books do. It does read human experiences as universal. It allows each reader to make their interpretation of the content based on the reader’s context. To even say it is a manual might be undermining the very strength of this book. It uses visuals, poetry, story-telling, and linguistics to interact with the reader. The manual uses multiple languages throughout interchangeably and seamlessly making it accessible to an array of people who come from different backgrounds. Spin Venek is an extension of invention, in that it is not the only project to do this but emphasizes the importance of a non-linear and conventional way of teaching and learning. Whether aware or not the project follows Paulo Frerian approach by insisting that ways of learning and knowing can be found in our immediate surroundings.
The manual uses an insect called imfundamakhwela, a whirligig beetle, as an instrument we can draw knowledge from. Imfundamakhwela i s an animal that lives both in and outside of water and mythology says that he who catches it immediately learns how to whistle. The myth around imfunda makhwela is nuanced, in that it is not an animal that can easily caught because of its awareness of its surroundings and the speed with which it moves. It is an animal that easily adapts to an environment it finds itself in and can navigate it with ease. Imfundamakhwela is able to survive underwater for a long period because it can trap air in its body, in what Soko calls is’gubhu somoya. This is to say imfundamakhwela considers what the future might demand and is always prepared for it.
The book is arranged in four parts. The first part is titled Zazi. In the main, this chapter is concerned with the knowledge of the self. But the approach that the book takes is not a Cartesian, rather it insists that we can only know ourselves through others. The Hermanueutic of the self is that I see you therefore I am. My knowledge of myself is through acknowledging the other’s existence. Ubuntu proper. The second part of the book emphasizes the importance of knowing one’s worth. The book gestures to the fact that we all have resources within us but what becomes problematic is that we live in a world where it is easy for one to not recognize these resources because we exist in a society that dictates on our behalf what is worth and what is not. The manual insists that we must not be trapped in the logic of capitalism but holistically look at what worth means and how to use it in a way that benefits not only the individual but the community.
The third part is titled Dala What You Must. This part of the book iterates on the importance of doing what is necessary so that one can be able to sustain themselves. It appreciates the fact that we live in a fucked up world but shows us how one should nonetheless strive regardless of the circumstances. It is in this part of the book that questions around budgeting, saving, etc are confronted. This part deals with the material conditions and how to deal with the materiality of the world. The final part of the book, which for me is the most important, deals with ways in which we co-exist in our communities. It lays down recommendations of what could be the terms of engagement between people who co-exist. It is this chapter that appreciates that there is a problem of gender-based violence, using practical examples, and social media the chapter speaks to representation and all its complexities.
The book/manual has its limitations but it is a necessary step if we are to make material changes in our communities. In a world that has made black people believe that they do not have power over their destinies Spin Venek Manual reminds us that we are inherently beings that have agency and at all times we ought to exercise this agency for the collective benefit of our communities. The intervention of the manual comes at the right time when there is a high unemployment rate, drug use, crime, and violence. Instead of just complaining about it Soko created the manual which will undoubtedly have some impact. Whatever the scale might be the Manual dares to do something. It is an assault on apathy.
