Xabiso Vili
RECRAFTING THE WORLD
How do we craft a place of our own inside the stories handed down to us?
Xabiso Vili is a poet, international slam champion, and Mandela Washington fellow who has performed his work on stages across four continents. He uses extended reality to help his audience reimagine their place in the world. As we celebrate Africa Day, the AVBOB Poetry Project features his deeply immersive Black Boi Meets Boogeyman series, available on YouTube.
The poems feature two characters: a troubled young man called Black Boi and Boogeyman, the creature that haunts and terrifies him. Through their struggle, Vili explores what it means to be black and masculine in our society.
“The series was written for video during lockdown, at a time of deep personal introspection,” Vili remembers. “I slowly started building a series, something the audience would want to come back to. Black Boi already existed as a separate character. Now I became fascinated by an image of manhood that is haunted, that transforms under the full moon. What monsters would Black Boi turn into under pressure? Boogeyman became a mirror for the way in which black boys are spoken about.”
Vili received funding to turn the poems into a 360° visual album. The funds were distributed by Africa No Filter, a storytelling platform working to challenge negative stereotypes of Africa. Vili turned the work into a multiple choice digital experience and started touring.
“So often, black boys are raised into becoming men in ways that don’t serve either themselves or others. Black Boi knows this, and it frightens him. I wanted him to reach a point where he loves his own demons. He has to find a way to coexist with them without creating havoc. Boogeyman carries this challenge for him until he is ready to take it up himself. Yes, Boogeyman is scary, but he is also useful. He teaches Black Boi the courage to face difficult things in the mirror. And even Boogeyman wants to be better, to go on dates and learn to dance, to love.”
Towards the end of the sequence, Boogeyman dies and dissolves into the cosmos. We sense that Black Boi no longer needs him, having learned to love himself in spite of his demons. At this point, Vili gives us ‘Boogeyman Writes a Love Letter’, containing these tender words of parting:
I only want to show them your heart,
be it pulp and bloody, beating in my palms –
it is also warm and tender.
I would unravel you, black boi,
show them your beautiful insides.
Look at these guts,
what courage, to live with all of these breakable parts.
When asked what celebrating Africa Day means to him, Vili says:
“Telling stories like these helps us to reimagine reality, so that agency is not taken away from us. There is such demand for African stories at the moment. Steve Biko once wrote that it will be the work of Africa to give the world a more human face, to restore spirit and soul through story. I want these poems to explore how we can move from toxic to healing masculinity. I have made the experience accessible through headsets in the townships where I grew up. You can see the wonder in kids’ eyes when they interact with the characters through new technology. You can feel them asking: ‘How does Black Boi stop himself from turning into Boogeyman?’”
In the next few days, write a poem in which you retell a difficult part of your own story. Create an intervention that allows you to craft a more empowering outcome.
The annual AVBOB Poetry Competition opens on 1 August 2026 and offers a cash prize of R10 000 in each language category. Visit www.avbobpoetry.co.za for details on how to participate.