The young people in Brooklyn continually amaze me. I spotted a young man (whose name I sadly did not get) at Brooklyn’s annual Afropunk Festival last weekend.  He was wearing what looks like a vintage t-shirt with “SWAPO Namibia” on it in the colors of the South West African People’s Organization.

It’s likely that this young man hadn’t been born yet when Namibia finally achieved independence in 1990, but he told me that his dad worked in the US as a lawyer for SWAPO during the struggle. SWAPO was formed in 1960 and was the most the popular liberation movement in Namibia against the South African occupation that ended in 1990. (Namibia was colonized by Germany, but after the First World War the League of Nations gave “trusteeship” over the colony to then-white South Africa.)

Back to the image. The disjuncture between young people and the liberation movements of their parents (whether here or on the continent) has become so great that a sight like this is awesome. Outside the context of current governments, what do the acronyms of Africa’s ‘former’ struggles represent these days? Vintage apparel? (I have a “Mandela for President” t-shirt that I wear when I want to feel proud of human achievement).

The festival put some images up here.

It turns out it is his cousin on the left. Also, the International African Arts Festival will be taking place this coming weekend in Brooklyn. Find info here.