Toya Delazy on culture: ‘You’re depressed because you denied your natural self’

Toya Delazy has encouraged Africans to be actively involved in preserving their cultures, especially their languages.

The Afro-rave singer took to her Twitter with words of encouragement for her fellow Africans.

Toya, who is the great-granddaughter of Princess Magogo of the Zulu nation, shared how happy it made her to know her roots as an African woman and person of Zulu royalty.

“African history exists and is the most powerful thing you will ever hear. I am so privileged to know my history, pictured below my great׳ grandads brother Prince Dabulamanzi in the 1800s. That’s his horse. Most Zulus had horses . We also were international traders by then,” she tweeted.

The musician encouraged people to “take back” their language and culture.

She explained that language played a big role in one’s identity in the caption to another sharp message she had for people that counted their mother tongue as inferior.

“Speak your native language to your children or watch it die within the next 20 years. Looking down on your relatives who speak your native tongue because you speak perfect English is stupid. It’s like being proud of borrowed clothes.

“Many of you are depressed because you are denied your natural self. Language is the road map of a culture. There is nothing educational about erasure. If you can’t speak your mother tongue, you have been robbed of great joy.”

Toya also shared some of her thoughts on the development of Africa.

Read her tweets below:

Since making a return to the Twitter streets, Toya has been vocal about a lot of things, including human rights and their interaction with vaccines for Covid-19.

The musician recently cautioned against youth being “forced” to vaccinate, saying placing limitations on what people who choose not to get the vaccine can do is a form of human rights violation.

The musician took to her Twitter to weigh in on the importance of being given a choice on whether to take the vaccine. This after she read articles about how countries including France and the UK are reportedly debating making certain essential services such as education, voting or travelling “exclusive” to people who agree to get vaccinated.

“Vaccines are personal. You take it to protect yourself, not for others. I believe in freedom of choice first, not forcing them on young people or else stripping away their livelihoods. This is a crime against humanity. We, the 99% who survive, are locked up like criminals,” Toya said.