From Lesotho to UMass and Beyond
Tsidii Le Loka, UMass ’98 was a recent guest at the University of Massachusetts “Someone to Be Proud Of” series. Tsidii was interviewed by Glenn Mangurian, University of Massachusetts “Executive in Residence”. The topic was “From Lesotho to UMass and Beyond”. Dr. Marcellette Williams, Senior Vice President of the University of Massachusetts co-hosted the event. The following is a summary of that interesting and highly relevant conversation.
Marcellette Williams, Senior Vice President of the University of Massachusetts (MW):
I have the great pleasure and honor of introducing one of our proud alumnae, Tsidii Le Loka. Tsidii had arrived on the Amherst campus when I was there as Deputy Chancellor. She graduated by the time I was Chancellor. Her academic focus at UMass Amherst was in both music and economics. She also studied on the Boston campus as well. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with the two majors. More important than the academic achievements was the energy that she brought to everything that she did. It was an enthusiasm, a high level of engagement. She was determined that the promise that she felt throughout her life was going to be realized.
Tsidii really is royal. She is, in fact, a princess. She's from the kingdom of Lesotho, which is one of the last existing kingdoms in Southern Africa. Everyone who comes in contact with Tsidii feels her energy. Everyone knows the name. I was just again in South Africa in September. Each time I visit I go to Robben Island where one of her grandparents is buried. Robben Island was the island to which Nelson Mandela and other prisoners were sent for a life sentence for their efforts during the struggle. Well, one of her great-grandparents in the eighteen hundreds was also fighting and struggling for human dignities. And for that he was sent by the British to Robben Island. He's buried there. So, when Mr. Mandela came to Robben Island, it was in fact a bit of a circle.
It is most appropriate that we can today celebrate having Mr. Mandela as an alum of U-Mass. We can look to Tsidii and know that one of her great-grandparents is buried on the island where Mr. Mandela served hard labor for his efforts during the struggle. So, if you wonder sometimes where the power, the excitement, the energy comes from, it's deep-rooted for Tsidii.
Tsidii, we are deeply honored that you are here to allow us to honor you today, and I will continue to consider you one of the stars in our family album. Thank you.
Tsidii Le Loka: Thank you so, so much. I'm very, very honored to be here today. And, more importantly, thank you for taking the time to come. Thank you, Dr. Williams, for the very, very generous introduction. I'm home.
Glenn Mangurian: Welcome home.
Tsidii: Thank you.
Glenn: Tsidii, I read your story in the UMass alumni magazine last year. Are you a truly a princess?
Tsidii:
On my mother’s side I am direct descendent of the 19th century Amahlubi Leader, Chief Langalibalele. My ancestry dates back several centuries and includes a history with Robben Island. Chief Langalibalele was imprisoned on Robben Island and at Uitvlugt by the British for defying their 19th Century dictates and leading his people in revolt against British rule in 1873. My grandfather was actually the first to be imprisoned on Robin Island for so called “treason”. When Dr. Mandela was released from prison one of the first places he went to was to my grandfather’s graveside, because Dr. Mandela was one of the last and Langalibalele was the first in our history of Southern Africa to be imprisoned for that particular reason.
Glenn: Was music part of your life as a child?
Tsidii: Music is part of my culture. Music is not only a means of communication, but it's also a very important part of worship, of everyday life, of education. The idea of using music and culture as education is not new in the context of our culture. Even though I wasn’t raised in a family musical environment, however, it was a culturally-oriented environment that had music within it. We did not have a record player or a CD player or anything of that sort growing up. I listened to the radio quite a bit. That's what helped me to learn English quite quickly. I would listen to the radio and learn the words of the songs that were on the radio. So, that was my exposure to commercial music. I grew up in Lesotho in Southern Africa. In Lesotho we don't have anything like music industry.
Glenn: What was it like growing up in Lesotho?
Tsidii: My parents were extremely conservative and very, very strict and highly determined that each of their children pursue an education. There was no question about that.
In the environment of living in a country completely landlocked by South Africa, the reality was we were still as affected by what was going on around us in apartheid South Africa as everyone else. Lesotho is completely economically dependent on South Africa for everything; medicines, jobs, everything else, with the exception of how the place was governed. And therefore, we at least had schools that operated with a different philosophy than those in South Africa. Coming from Lesotho after high school I did not know where the next step would be. As determined as my parents were, the reality was that life was still also very difficult for them. And, they did their very best with all of us.
Glenn: When did you know that you wanted to sing?
Tsidii: I grew up never seeing television. There was no theater, no music of a professional entity. But somehow in my heart I felt that I had something to say through music. I didn't know whether I could sing or not, by the way. It wasn't relevant as far as my little mind was concerned. It was that I had music in my heart and through this music I wanted to express something of substance. I didn't have the words at that age to explain all that, but I felt it in my spirit.
But at that point I felt 'I have a heart to sing'. I really believe that. I say sing, but sing means a lot more than just the actual act of singing. With this I had the thought that maybe this is the time to leave home. I'm sixteen. I finished high school. My parents said, "Absolutely no way. You're going nowhere. You're a teenager. You're a girl. You've never been out of here. You have to figure out something else and that something else is education."
In South Africa during the time that I was growing up there was no opportunity to go to school with children of other cultures and races. But my parents specifically wanted us to grow up in Lesotho because there were multiracial schools there. So this is how come I was able to go to school with children from other countries. After I graduated high school I met one of the students I had gone to school with. He is from Chile. He showed me a diary which I had written, we were about eight or nine, and I had said, 'I am going to become a singer one day in the world.'
Glenn: Do you remember your first time on stage?
Tsidii: I had the opportunity to audition for a competition at a nearby hotel. Now, the idea of singing into a microphone was what fascinated me. I didn't know what this was, but somehow it was able to help me convey something else. I wanted to enter this competition. No one had ever told me I could sing and it was irrelevant. I was going to sing. I ran away from home and entered the competition. And my goodness, the next thing I know, I'm on that stage. I notice in the audience my mother sitting there looking at me with that eye, 'You thought you'd gotten away with it.' But in spite of her apparent displeasure she had actually also brought a tape recorder. She recorded my audition. I still have that tape of that first time on stage. So, as much as she was going to pretend that she didn't want me there, my mother's heart was such that she understood my passion. She wanted to support that passion, but not at the expense of education -- a concern of every parent.
Glenn: What was the result of the audition?
Tsidii: One of the audience members was from Hugh Masekela’s band. Hugh Masekela is a very well known jazz musician from South Africa who had come here to the United States in the sixties and had become very famous. He sang a lot of music that made the world aware of what was going on in South Africa. After the competition this band member and another gentleman from Lesotho started telling people in Johannesburg about this young girl who had been in the competition. By the time I finished high school, there was, I guess, a little bit of a buzz about me.
Not long after that, I got an invitation from one of the most famous singers in South Africa at the time, Anneline Malebo. Anneline was one of South Africa's top singers; her claim to fame being lead singer of South Africa's top girl-trio, JOY. Years after the break up of JOY, Anneline had decided to form her own trio and was auditioning singers from different parts of the country. It was only a few months later that Anneline auditioned me for her new group, which would later be known as SHADIII. Again I didn't tell my parents I'm going to Johannesburg. Johannesburg was the big city -- the equivalent of New York in Southern Africa. I planned to go alone to audition. I pretended I was going to visit my sister.
My elder sister was studying medicine in Johannesburg at the time. So I said, "No, I'm going to visit", and my parents said, "Well, you are going with your brother, because you're not going there on your own. There's absolutely no question about it."
Glenn: What was it like going to Johannesburg?
Tsidii: I attended not knowing what an audition was. I took my guitar. All I wanted really was to meet someone who was a professional. I had no idea what professional music was. I thought having the privilege to audition might give me an idea of what to do with this passion. Maybe I could meet somebody who could give me some guidance. My parents didn't want to have anything to do with that. They wanted to have everything to do with my pursuit of education. I understood there were very, very few opportunities available for us as children of color within the context of apartheid Southern Africa. I did not know I'd be accepted at the audition. I had no experience whatsoever. I was absolutely shocked when Miss Malebo said, " I really feel you should join us in this new group that we are about to form."
This was the beginning, as I say, of a miracle. God was at work right from the beginning. Because of my naiveté, my passion led me in the right direction: to the right places and to the right people with the right intentions, with the right heart, with the kind of generosity that allowed me to get the guidance that I was so open to. The first backing band I had on stage was the backing band used by Paul Simon on Graceland. Most of the artists that ended up working with Paul Simon, those were the artists who were my first backing band. I had no experience, only heart.
After three years working with Anneline, the leader of this trio, we did very well. Obviously she was very well known. I was exposed to a certain kind of quality and expression. But also, it demanded me to grow up very, very, very quickly. It wasn't just about singing. I'm also a young woman who is in the midst of a whole different culture and environment.
Glenn: How did your parents respond to all this?
Tsidii: It was a whole production to get my parents to agree in the first place. I called my parents to say, "Oh, by the way, I'm in Johannesburg and I just met this wonderful lady, and she wants to speak to you", I was not going to be the one to explain what happened. I said, "If you accept me, you have to explain to my parents." I didn't tell Anneline that I had also run away to attend the audition. My father said, "If you want to have her work with you, please give me the courtesy of coming to my home to ask for her and explain who you are and what you want from my daughter." So Anneline drove about four hours from Johannesburg, to my home to explain.
My father said, "First things first. I don't know how your business works, but I'm going to have to have a very important contract with you. As soon as my daughter has the opportunity, the first opportunity to continue with her education, that's what she will do. If we can agree with that, that's fine. You can have her in the meantime, but under these conditions here." So, that was fine. So, right from the beginning I felt very compelled to be responsible my education. However, it wasn't difficult because I was already very interested in education. I loved learning, right from the beginning. This is one of the things they instilled in us, a love for learning. So they never really had to push me.
Glenn: How did you get connected to UMass?
Tsidii: I was very focused—I was going to go to America. I wanted to be in a country where I wouldn't have to explain myself in the way of being a human being. After performing in Johannesburg with Anneline for about three years, I went solo and did very, very well. Eventually I applied to U-Mass Boston. My mother had been at U-Mass, and was quite happy there. She did her Masters in one year, 1979, in the School of Public Health. I remembered that I was very curious about her experience. My mom was always very encouraging and helped me very much in terms of keeping my focus.
Glenn: Did you continue your career?
Tsidii: Within a year after arriving in the States, I got the opportunity to work with Harry Belafonte. He had heard that I was in the country through his manager, whom I had previously met. Once he heard that I was in the United States he called me and said, "Harry is doing an international tour. He's looking for artists. Would you mind to come from Amherst and meet him? He'd love to meet you. I've told him a lot about you.” I went to meet him. I was terrified. I didn't know what to expect. I was nervous. But, he was wonderful, really such an honor and a joy to work with.
At first, I was invited to work with him as a backing vocalist. After the first show he said, "I can't waste you back there. Take a spot in the show." So, I was very honored he gave me a very significant part in the tour. I was to be in the show for only a couple of months. It ended up being almost a year.
I wanted to go back and finish my degree. I was not going to be distracted from that goal. It had taken me a long time, a lot of energy to be that close. However, I was struggling financially while at U-Mass. And I thought, “How am I going to make sure I finish?” In fact, the tour is what saved me. So there was this miracle of an opportunity -- to have a tour with an incredible legend, to have an opportunity to for the first time to see how things worked in the United States and to get a sense of how do I speak and communicate to a whole different country and environment. I didn't have that experience in South Africa necessarily. So, that was really a joy.
Glenn: How did you get introduced to The Lion King opportunity?
Tsidii: After I finished the tour I went back to U-Mass. Some time later I received a call from my former agent in South Africa. She called me and said, "There are several people here in Johannesburg who are coming from Disney and they are auditioning for a show called The Lion King. I said, "What is that?" I had my head buried in books for a couple of years, so I was well excused, don't you think? She said, "it's a very famous animated movie and they really are very determined to find some of the cast here in South Africa. The music is very mixed with the music of South Africa as well." I said, "What has that got to do with me at this point? I am having a phenomenal time at UMass. I'm studying economics and music. I think I might even go to graduate school in economics. I don't know if I'm really interested at this point."
Glenn: Where did you meet Julie Taymor?
Tsidii: A few months before the call, I shaved my hair to announce to myself, I'm going to focus a little differently now. But, my agent convinced me to speak with Lebo M., one of the writers of the music in the animated version. My agent said, "Lebo just told me that Julie Taymor is going to call you." I had never heard of Julie Taymor. When Julie called me that same afternoon, she was absolutely fascinating, to listen to, to speak with, just as a person. From the beginning I think she got right the sense that I was not particularly interested in doing just another show. I was sincerely interested in the substance behind what was being done.
She asked, "Could you just learn these two songs?" Just read a little script." I said, "Are you sure? I'm not sure I really want to do this, but we could have a cup of tea. I would love to come over to New York." She said, "OK, just do this, just work on this script and these two songs, and maybe just do one composition of yours, and just come over. Let's meet on Thursday." Ok. All right, no problem. I took a bus to New York. I met her, a lovely woman. I sang for her. She looked at me and she asked, "What is that? Is it a call from where you come from?" I said, "You have understood me. You have understood me." I explained.
She went on to ask me to do the reading from the script of The Lion King. She asked me what I was singing. "It's a call from the mountain. The mother had lost the child to a river. Her call is for a sense of justice in terms of the world and nature. She doesn't know who to call out to or from, but it's the pain. Why I sang it to you is simply because it's what's in my heart. It's a call from where I come from. I don't know what to do. And whatever it is I have to do in spirit, I have to put it through song. That is my substance as a performer. If you can understand that, we can move forward. I know we are doing entertainment here. I love entertaining. I love the joy of the arts and culture. I'm passionate about it, but I come from an experience which doesn't give me the luxury, and neither do I want it, the luxury of forgetting to keep my feet on the ground as far of the realities of the life left behind. It gives me a greater attachment to enjoying new possibilities and a new environment as well, and seeing how better I can contribute." This is how I met Julie Taymor, in song.
Glenn: How did you land the original role of Rafiki?
Tsidii: I was not interested in doing the show. This was just for the workshop, this audition. And after the workshop she accepted me. She was very, very excited by the way. She invited me to participate in the workshop which was for just the Disney executives and for two weeks we worked on the music and the script and I worked on my particular character. At that particular time the character of Rafiki in the animated is the character of a man who is like a soothsayer. Changing Rafiki to be the character of a woman was Julie's idea. She said, "It's important for me, as a woman director, to find that we have a strong woman presence in a lead role so that we acknowledge the realities of our lives; that we do have strong female figures and to represent them in that way. Could you help to expand this vocabulary of this particular role, with what you can bring into it?" So that's when I started working on some of the writing of the script. So we mixed with that a semblance of a different culture and a context of what a soothsayer would be in that particular culture; bringing it in terms of what the script was asking for, for The Lion King. It was really a joy.
Glenn: How long did you run in that show?
Tsidii: The show started in '97. The workshop was in '96, just before I came to Boston. I spent a year in Boston. And in '97 we started rehearsals, went to Minneapolis and then Broadway. It was a total of three years. I left the show in '99.
Glenn: I know that you have a cause that's very close to your heart. Tell us about what you see unfolding for you next.
Tsidii: I have been very, very interested in being able to acknowledge the challenges of HIV-AIDS that we are experiencing globally, and particularly, at this time in Southern Africa and Lesotho. I know that in the United States, many advances have taken place in the last twenty years. In Africa, we are where the US was twenty years ago. It may be even worse because the Lesotho economy is very challenging at this time.
A lot of people confuse South Africa and Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland. These are separate countries altogether. At this time all the support that goes to South Africa to help alleviate this problem, or at least to make some progress. Not a red cent goes to any of the neighboring countries. And, they are very poor countries. I don't know what the actual reality is today but from last I knew that was the case. I grew up and went to high school in Lesotho. I very much thought, 'Here I am in this incredible country, with marvelous opportunities to grow and to contribute', exactly what I wanted to do. I've been graced with such a privilege, really to do just that, and I would like to continue to grow in that way. But I also have to do this in the way that I cannot forget where I'm coming from. I see with my eyes the reality every time I go back there. And, I see that no matter where we were before, it's actually worsened in many ways.
Glenn: What type of help has there been from the international community?
Tsidii: I've lost many, many, many of my classmates from high school just from AIDS, many. I think over half of my high school class is gone. Not because of anything other than, there was simply no help. Not little help. Zero help for them. And, there is no access to help. So I thought, 'One of the most important things is to see how to approach that back in a motivating way.' How do you approach such a sad subject, but still find a motivating factor? We don't want to be saddened. We want to be inspired. So I thought, culture not just music connects us in such a significant way. How about working those things together -- working the idea that here I had the opportunity to be in one of the most successful shows in Broadway history, and I come from one of the poorest countries in the world. I have to connect these dots.
I want people to look at me and say, “Here's an example of one of those children out there. She is here, and one of us.” It's as important to me to be a citizen of where I'm coming from and a citizen of where I am, too. So, for me, I am home here, right here, as well. I seek that same idea of contributing in the same parallel manner in this country. So, the work that I'm focused on is to create The Camp of Good Hope. We're right at the very beginning, to be able to use culture as a way of assisting, not just in Southern Africa, but beyond. But of course, it starts from there for me.
Glenn: Tsidii you are “someone we can be proud of.” We thank you so much for coming and making this special trip just to be with us this morning.
Tsidii: Thank you so much, thank you.