INTERNATIONALLY-acclaimed singer and dancer Toya Delazy (31) has revealed how she was terribly bullied at school.
The London-based artist, whose real name is Latoya Nontokozo Buthelezi, said she was bullied for her hair, skin colour and her language (Zulu).
Toya, real name Letoya Nontokozo Buthelezi who has made a name for herself in the entertainment industry, is also the granddaughter of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi – which also makes her a Zulu princess.
She released an Afro rave single called Resurrection on 28 May and the video pays tribute to her roots and beliefs. “Afro rave’s an infusion of techno, drum and bass as well as beats with Zulu lyricism.
“When I went to school in 1996 it was just after apartheid had ended, but it hadn’t ended in the minds and hearts. Being a black Zulu princess made me quite a target, even politically. I was in an oppressive religious high school that bullied black children. They shaved our hair and black girls were virginity tested after holidays. People had access to our personal belongings, and would dictate and police our beliefs as they pleased.
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“Had it happened to me now, I’d fight back. But as a child, it was mental slavery. I felt like nothing belonged to us, their religion, their body, their way. I was living disconnected from my essence and extremely depressed.
“It took me years to reprogramme my mind and find self-belief and self-love. The video of resurrection is about survival, those moments uwumgodi onganukwa nja.. the pits, how do you come back from that?”
Toya said she had to take back all the power she gave away to foreign beliefs which took her away from herself.
“And as much as they had tried to bury me I was a seed that still blossomed despite it all and resurrected. Sometimes the tough times in our lives feel like a burial but little do they know they are preparing you for your resurrection. Survival is a beautiful horror story and now it’s time that Africans be everything they want to be. It’s time for our resurrection,” she wrote on Facebook.
