In Memoriam Joany Muskiet (January 20, 1960 – April 20, 2024)

On Monday we received the sad news that Joany Muskiet passed away unexpectedly at the age of 64. A great loss for her loved ones and a great loss for Rotterdam. CBK Rotterdam has gone through a special process with her in recent years, to realize a memorial for her son, the rapper and word artist Helderheid, who died young. He was born as Breyten Muskiet, named by Joany after the poet Breyten Breytenbach. That artistic association was justified, as it turned out. As a rapper, he proclaimed a positive message to his peers, about how to choose the right path and how to seek and use your talents despite setbacks.

His mother only noticed how important he was as a role model when he died suddenly in his sleep in 2004 at the age of 25. Then it was his friends who wanted to keep his legacy alive who visited her, after which she took over that role. This is how the Helderheid 5314 Foundation was born. She also wanted to promote the exemplary role that Helderheid had. She visited young people in prisons and set up anti-bullying protocols. Like her son, she fought racism and injustice. She always based her on direct, positive contact with fellow human beings. In recent years she was also active in the Social Café on Oranjeboomstraat. Doing good is not a profession, it is not a career, it is something you just do. That's how we, at CBK Rotterdam, got to know her.

And she also spread her message with music, her son received it from no stranger. Joany was a gospel singer. She has sometimes said that because of her singing talent she was asked more than once for bands and other musical clubs last century, but she did not respond to that. She directed herself as the lead singer of the band More Gospel and performed regularly as such. She grew up in IJsselmonde and says that even as a young person she found it difficult to control herself and chose her own path. She got comfort and strength from her faith.

She has worked on several initiatives with Breyten's friends in recent years, including the annual and musically thrilling Clarity Festival, during which a Clarity Cup was awarded. She strove for a permanent crowning of this legacy in the form of a definitive one memorial, which was unveiled in 2021 on the island of Feijenoord in a park that had since been renamed Helderheidplein. And just as her energy was not limited, the memory of her son was also conveyed through walls full of murals beyond just the square.

The monument was designed based on an idea by Micha Prinsen and was finalized by architect Lloyd Muskiet, Joany's brother. A stainless steel column with lyrics from Helderheid's song 'Progression', accompanied by patterns inspired by carvings of the Surinamese Maroon culture. The unveiling was a festival in itself, given the number of people who came to listen to Joany's words, among other things. There again she turned out to be a woman with a great singing talent and a big heart, despite her great sadness a constant advocate of her son's message: Hear Every Lesson That Has a Reason And Ignore Foolishness - in other words: BRIGHTNESS