On this episode of Wine Down Wednesdays, we are joined by the legendary Natasha Muhoza, lawyer, poet, storyteller and all round creative extraordinaire.
The conversation feels like home from the very beginning and pointing it out exactly when it started is a hard one, but one of its highlights is the vibrance it carries from beginning to end.
To articulate her fascination with words and just how much power they possess, Natasha kicks us off with the original quote “when I am gone, find me where I wrote” which means more to her today than it ever has. She attributes gratitude for this statement now more than ever because although the fact that one could be gone at any moment in time isn’t lost on her, Natasha strongly believes that the words she has shared is a remnant that transcends time.
“To me life is a gift. Word is a gift. For me word is that which restores me, that which renews me, that which helps me navigate life and the complexity of things like love.” She says
Words according to Natasha Muhoza outlive life itself, and can serve not only as a legacy but also as her spirit communicating through the words.
Upon being asked when exactly she realized the true essence of words, Natasha reiterated that unlike the instant discovery of a new lake in the great lakes region, her experience was more of a journey than a splint, thus her realization cannot be deduced to a singular moment.
Her fascination with words was something that was nurtured by her community which entails immediate and extended family, boarding school that she started attending at the age of six as well as lessons she learnt from friends and family that really brought out the heritage of it all.
Natasha’s upbringing played significantly into shaping the storyteller she is today, and as she recalls the remarkable stories she was told by her parents about their lives and struggles all through childhood and beyond, it became inevitable that she would lead her own path as well.
Natasha’s father was a big part of her journey. He was intentional about sharing and buying books by African authors that she relishes and retells to this day, and simultaneously developed an appreciation for African literature. One of the milestones that her father helped her achieve was the first piece of work she published. At approximately the age of eight as the school holidays were coming to an end, Natasha wrote a short story describing her holidays, interactions with family and the things she enjoyed. Her father liked the story so much and to encourage it, he took it to The New Times and that is how Natasha had published work at the very beginning. She appreciates the support and encouragement he offered her and acknowledges that as the beginning of nurturing the storyteller in her, and that is something she hopes she can pass on someday.
“In the world of creativity, I have nurtured many and I continue to nurture many because my words transcend me and they are nurtured in the spirits and minds of younger people” she says
One of the takeaways she’s gotten from her creative process is that there is a responsibility attached to the words in the sense that sharing is a gift and the emotions and messages channeled through them has to be able to speak to someone, and from a personal perspective words that she wrote in the past have more significance to her present. A message from her younger self, if you may.
Natasha’s friends and teachers also played a role in nurturing the storyteller and poet in her. The first poem she remembers writing was during a class she had found to be boring. The poem was eminently themed on identity and though she didn’t have too much confidence in it, she shared it with her friends who were very impressed with her and kept on encouraging her to write more poems.
“Word has the power to go beyond you” says Natasha
Humanities and English teachers held a special place in young Natasha’s first chapters as a creative writer, she felt like they understood her more than most, and that they afforded her the kind of respect one would reserve solely for equals elevated her confidence. The way they spoke to her gave her a sense of belonging and respect she hadn’t expected to receive at the time but held in high esteem nonetheless. Her teachers were always encouraging of her writing and even when her performance was a little lower than her usual or she had a dry season, they gave her grace and got her back on track.
The presence of confidence doesn’t necessarily imply the absence of fear and for Natasha and other writers, the power of one’s words and thoughts has the capability to inflict fear and communicating that in easily consumable art can be challenging, but the reassurance her community offered her helped her persevere through it.
In 2013 when Natasha moved to the US to pursue university, her fear was heightened and it made the transition less than smooth, therefore positioning her to deal with mental unwellness. Later on she was introduced to what can only be described as godsends and that helped her navigate the change.
“Everytime they saw me they encouraged me. They spoke life into me, they reminded me of the power of my gift.”
She describes that moment in time as one of the most silent, inwardly and outwardly. Everything was overwhelming and although the fortune of not footing the bill to her education wasn’t lost on her, privileges that were exclusive for her American counterparts posed a hindrance to her success and navigating that was overwhelming.
Shortly after she began posting her poetry, Natasha’s friend Mick encouraged her to venture into spoken word performances, which she was hesitant about at first, up until an international student gathering where she hesitantly raised her hand when they asked if anybody wanted to share thoughts and crafted a short poem between other freestyle performances from colleagues that she shared later to the crowd. The authority figures at the gathering were American and despite the constant urge to have a better perception of self in comparison to them, she hadn’t gotten there yet, but the fact that these people that she felt inferior to were impressed with her abilities was a big confidence boost.
Shortly after the incident and a bit of networking with the Rwandan Embassy in the US, Natasha sent in a poem for a commemoration ceremony at the UN in Washington DC and hearing it being read out loud was an exhilarating experience for her.
At the next kwibuka ceremony she met Malaika Uwamahoro and Ines Giramata and collaborated on a poem for the ceremony, which was challenging at first but it worked out so well they were called back for a Rwanda Day performance in Atlanta.
After completing studies in the US, she moved back home to Rwanda for a year before embarking on law school in Kenya and one of the most monumental things she did in that time period was record a spoken word video. The poem had pan African themes embedded in it and with the help of a friend with a camera, they were able to record something great.
Indulging in deep introspection and being honest with herself is one of the ways Natasha stays spiritually, physically and mentally intact, and this is a skill she attributes to the two years she spent on her own in the US. Being friends with herself is one of the things that have helped her to not only stay grounded by strengthen her relationship with God.
Natasha’s version of a work-love balance isn’t mutually exclusive, thus she doesn’t feel as though being a lawyer by day takes away from who she is as a creative.
Her thesis that was an address of a medical issue from a legal standpoint was inspired by her late aunt that joined her in Kenya to get treated for cancer and the process of actually receiving medication especially how costly treatment for non-communicable diseases had become.
The conversation concludes as Natasha recites an original poem.
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