YOUTH 04

Image courtesy of Dylan Evans

2. Hot Brown Honey played six sellout shows in The Spiegeltent at the recent Tiger Dublin Fringe to rave reviews. The Irish Times said: “Hot Brown Honey... gloriously entertain, provoke and, yes, educate.”

3. YOUTH spoke to Hot Brown Honey’s Queen Bee, Busty Beatz (Kim Bowers) who gave us some background to the group’s formation: “Hot Brown Honey started back in 2011 when myself, Lisa (HBH Director) and my sister Candy B had pretty much had enough! We had been working across the arts - primarily as theatre makers and there was no place for us and the many talented women like us. So, the concept was born out of our oppression, our burning desire to dismantle the colonial patriarchy and give Women of Colour a platform.”

4. Hot Brown Honey began as a Block Party... “We worked with brilliant Sistahs - drag queens, performance artists, genderfluid B-Girls and circus baes. After witnessing so much fitness, Lisa and I decided it was time to write us onto stage. Centrestage!”

5. Interaction with audiences is a really important part of Hot Brown Honey: “We are all about inviting peeps into our world. One of the similarities we found with all of our global First Nations backgrounds (Xhosa, Gamilaraay, Samoan, Tongan, Indonesian and Maori) is the strong protocol of welcoming. There are audiences who we represent. To have a moment with them is extremely important. We get to say we see you! You are here, we are here!”

6. The Hot Brown Honeys are… Ofa Fotu - The Myth Slayer, Hope One - The Beatboxer, Crystal Stacey - The Peace Maker, Juanita Duncan - The Truth Sayer, Lisa Fa’alafi –The Game Changer and Busty Beatz - The Queen Bee.

7. At the Dublin Fringe show, Hot Brown Honeys referenced the Repeal the 8th Campaign. YOUTH asked Busty if this was something the Honeys are passionate about: “Hell yes, we feel strongly about this! We are compelled to MAKE NOISE! It is our manifesto. We already knew what was happening in Ireland as it had been in the news in Australia. We stand in solidarity with our Irish Sistahs as we do with our Sistahs worldwide. Our stories. Our voices. Our bodies.”

Image courtesy of Dylan Evans

8. Black Honey Company (the company behind Hot Brown Honeys) have a new work One The Bear - a fairy tale for the hip hop generation exploring identity, exploitation, appropriation and friendship in a world gone wild with celebrity.

9. Hot Brown Honey will be touring Australia next and then bringing their show to South Africa, but a return to Ireland is also a possibility: “We really want to get back to Ireland cause the feminists are awake! We are in the midst of the Creative Revolution! The movement is moving and the floodgates are open! Deadly!”

10. When asked how we can all help to destroy the patriarchy once and for all, Busty Beatz sent YOUTH an excerpt from her ‘new novel’ - Busty Beatz: A Guide in how we can all help to destroy the patriarchy...

Wake up!

Wipe the sleep from your eyes, don't deny - Recognise.

Stand Up!

Decolonise. Bring the Mother back. Give love and respect to all those who have come before us. Pass the Mic cause this is what it means to be an ally. Empower unheard voices, at the forefront is intersectionality.

Rise Up!

Shake the foundations. Synchronise, organise, mobilise. Don't forget to moisturise (Self care is massive factor in destroying the patriarchy)

Read Up!

Get with the Syllabus. There is awesome writing out there, everywhere! I recommend Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 15-step manifesto on how to raise a feminist child.

Garden Up!

Break the system! Food sovereignty. Teach the children.

Laugh Up!

Find the funny. Always.

Love Up!

Love so radically, so fiercely, so unconditionally, so strongly, without judgment or category that the patriarchy falls down dead.

In the words of Angela Davis:

“You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.”

*Drops Mic*