Mmakgosi Anita Tau

Motswana Poet and award winning filmmaker

Mmakgosi Anita Tau is a poet, award winning filmmaker and part-time educator from Botswana. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Motion Picture Medium from AFDA Botswana and she is pursuing her Master of Fine Arts in Film at Syracuse University, New York USA. Mmakgosi is a 2021 Mandela Washington Fellow for Young African Leaders, a recipient of the British Council/Prince Claus Mobility Fund, as well as a 2020 Yaddo Artist in Residence and a 2020 Headlands Center for the Arts AIR Fellow. She is a mental health activist and the creator of Mmakgosi Live, a global campaign that uses poetry, art, film, dance and theatre to destigmatize mental illness and to inspire connection among artists. She is interested in art as a heuristic and pedagogic tool, making films that explore the reconstruction of the Motswana woman in Global Cinema and poetry that is an ongoing protest against human rights violations and social injustices. Mmakgosi is also the co-founder of Sekei Girls, a mentorship program that promotes literacy development and nurtures creative talents in young scholars.

Quotes

edit
  • We are not second class citizens. We will no longer live life in an eternal state of apology for being women.
  • If disruptor is the new synonym for defiance, then we take it, we own it, and we do with it as we please to protect this endangered species named Woman.
  • I don’t like to call myself a disruptor, but because of the body, gender, and country I was born in, there is no other plan for me.
  • Mosadi Galase by Mmakgosi Anita Tau (16 July 2021)
  • Recognize your value, gifts and potential before you expect the world to do that.
  • My life is a composition of God’s gifts bundled up to serve humanity.
  • Art is the truth that enables me to live through words and create works that change lives.
  • As a tool for social advocacy, poetry is an art that attracts those waging wars on social ills.
  • I am a firm believer in my intentional God and know that my life is ordered by His authority.
  • Empower your mind, read and research about strategic tools that will position your brand purposively to your target audience.