Episode Art by Rage Kidvai @rkidvai
Adam Bainbridge a.k.a. Kindness is a Grammy winning music producer, singer, DJ, radio host and music video producer who works with artists such as Robyn, Solange, Blood Orange (Dev Hynes) & Kelela. They are British, and descended from Indian and Malay migrants to South Africa.
Kindness kicks off the first EVER episode of Bad Brown Aunties, telling us about their art, background, and some of the incredible aunty figures in their life! If you haven’t heard the episode already, go take a listen!
Below is a playlist of our favorite Kindness productions, along with family history, photographs and other tidbits related to the episode.
‘Chamakay’ by Blood Orange/Dev Hynes. Kindness shot and produced the music video for this song.
Nelson Mandela with Adam’s Grandmother Amina Desai (c. 1920 – 10 June 2009), South Africa’s longest serving female South Asian political prisoner. She was accused by the apartheid government of conspiring with her lodger and relative Ahmed Timol, (who was arrested just days prior on October 23, 1971) to further the aims of the then-illegal African National Congress. Desai’s home was raided at 3 am by the Security Police, after which she was taken to the notorious John Vorster Square prison, where she was interrogated and tortured for the next four days. Desai served her sentence alongside Winnie Mandela (or Aunty Winnie to Adam’s family) and Dorothy Nyembe. After five years imprisonment at Barberton and Kroonstad Prisons, she was released and placed under a banning order and house arrest for a further five years.
An April 1973 letter from Winnie Mandela to Adam’s mum Adela. The letter reads “Dear Adela, On behalf of your mother whom I served 6 months with, accept this little card. I wish you the best of everything. She sends you her fondest regards. She thinks of each one of you daily. I hope to write in the near future. I’m only a few days out of prison and still trying to re-establish myself. Fondest regards to all of you and your sister’s husband. Yours Sincerely, Winnie.”
Adam runs into a picture of their aunt during her 1969 prosecution for “interracial relations” under the Immorality Act at the Apartheid Museum.
Adam and their mum in Peterborough, England.
Adam’s favorite auntie-inspired fashion comes from their own aunt!
