The top results will be a bunch of wealthy people.
We at Supamodu aren’t having any of that. Especially not on May 1st.
We want to be inspired by those who find truth in defying the existing systems. We seek motivation from those who are not afraid to go against the grain. We look up to those who strive for beauty, not millions.
And no, we don’t buy into Apple’s corporate definition of a rebel.
Today we’d like to introduce you to a motley gang of people who stick out like sore thumbs, and yet this is precisely what makes their impact on the world so powerful.
An athlete who fought his traumatic past and bureaucracy to appear in the Olympic games.
A political activist who took control of the elusive media narrative.
A rapper who created art out of his history of addiction and incarceration.
This is where they came from:
Guor Mading Maker survived a civil war as a child and lost 28 relatives. And then he still had to fight bureaucracy and rules to be able to participate in the Olympic games, as the first athlete from a country which didn’t exist until 2011. A documentary about his life, “Runner,” shows: if he could do that, you can probably achieve your life goals, too.
FROM SOUTH SUDAN and UNITED STATES:
The Fantastic Story of South Sudan’s First Olympic Athlete—‘Runner’, dir. Bill Gallagher, 2019
A nuanced portrait of Guor Mading Maker, also known as Guor Marial, who survived the civil war and child slavery to become the first man from his country to participate in the Olympic Games
A staunch radical and overall fascinating person, Marion Stokes once decided that she wanted to record everything that was on American TV for posterity. Her recordings are now part of the Internet Archive, and “Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project” is the film to watch if you need a little incentive to start being more engaged with your pet projects, even if people around you don’t approve.
FROM UNITED STATES:
A meticulous profile of Marion Stokes, whose obsession with collecting TV footage became a lifelong crusade against the biases of mass media
Feeling like you’re way behind your time to succeed in arts? Listen to Sirop, who, after 20 years of incarceration and drug addiction, became a hip-hop sensation. His album “Strashila” is moody, trippy and delightful, despite the dark experiences that inspired it. It’s better to start late in life than to start before you have meaningful things to say.
FROM BELARUS:
The Dark, Brainy and Radiant Rap of an Ex-Offender From Belarus—Sirop, ‘Strashila,’ 2020
Once an aspiring musician, Sirop (Сiроп) became addicted to heroin and spent two decades in and out of detention. Now in his late forties, he is the rising star of Belarusian hip-hop.
No emerald mine scions or people with vast PR teams here. Just a lot of elbow grease and an inventive approach to reality.
Part of the reason Supamodu exists is so we could bring you stories of people like that.
So much is being said about breaking the mold, but what about making a mold of your own, so others could follow?
Guor Mading Maker is now helping inspire the new generation of South Sudanese athletes.
Marion Stokes laid out the groundwork for media accountability activists across the globe.
Sirop is carving out a niche for ex-offenders in the post-Soviet space.
They’re rebellious outliers, no doubt about it. But most importantly: just humans.
Like us. Like you.
Happy May 1st!
Hope you enjoy Supamodu and feel compelled to forward this email to your friends.
Thank you for being with us! 💛
— Katya Kazbek,
editor-in-chief
