Mighty Mic for the Congo
Last night I went to a university sanctioned concert on campus called Mighty Mic. It happens every year, and each year the concert is aimed at raising money and awareness about issues in a particular African country. In the past year I have become increasingly inspired to go to Africa and work with women there who are experiencing various struggles. So many things have been pushing me to go there- studying human evolution (turns out, we all are Africans, pretty much), field work with negritos in the Philippines, as well as hearing the stories/experiences of a close friend who lived in Uganda for 8 months.
Anywho, this year the concert was for the Congo. Earlier in the day I was on campus leaving class and I heard seemingly east African music playing. Sure enough, I walk to the heart of campus and there is a Congelese gospel band playing loudly with people boppin their heads and enjoying the beats. (I instantly said to myself : "Whoa, I'm not in Santa Cruz anymore") I found out that that same band would be playing later in the evening - along with two conscious hip-hop gigs and another band.
I watched the band play and decided to go to the concert. While listening to the band I met a really sweet girl from Nairobi, Kenya who happened to be the only other person besides me that was dancing.
So last night I go to the concert and their is a cool hip-hop group called Blue Scholars who performed. After the performance a series of videos were shown about the civil wars and mineral conflicts going on in the Congo. I was happy to see that they were playing these videos --- even though many students were (ironically) talking on their cell phones or friends while they were playing.
Then, the Congolese gospel group played, which was fun. And after that a woman from the Congo named Mama Muleri talked to the crowd and told us the stories of various women who were raped, killed, or tortured by rebel militia. This woman took a 40 hour plane ride to come speak with a bunch of UCLA brats. I hope they were inspired.
Then, a great hiphop artist from Oakland named Zion-I performed, which was awesome.
All in all, I had fun. I just hope that all these young, privileged people do something with this awareness.Here are some links to things that I think are cool:
http://blog.lunapads.com/2009/02/support-cloth-pads-4-girls/
http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/
http://www.thecrunchychicken.com/2008/02/using-your-sewing-skills-for-good.html
Anywho, this year the concert was for the Congo. Earlier in the day I was on campus leaving class and I heard seemingly east African music playing. Sure enough, I walk to the heart of campus and there is a Congelese gospel band playing loudly with people boppin their heads and enjoying the beats. (I instantly said to myself : "Whoa, I'm not in Santa Cruz anymore") I found out that that same band would be playing later in the evening - along with two conscious hip-hop gigs and another band.
I watched the band play and decided to go to the concert. While listening to the band I met a really sweet girl from Nairobi, Kenya who happened to be the only other person besides me that was dancing.
So last night I go to the concert and their is a cool hip-hop group called Blue Scholars who performed. After the performance a series of videos were shown about the civil wars and mineral conflicts going on in the Congo. I was happy to see that they were playing these videos --- even though many students were (ironically) talking on their cell phones or friends while they were playing.
Then, the Congolese gospel group played, which was fun. And after that a woman from the Congo named Mama Muleri talked to the crowd and told us the stories of various women who were raped, killed, or tortured by rebel militia. This woman took a 40 hour plane ride to come speak with a bunch of UCLA brats. I hope they were inspired.
Then, a great hiphop artist from Oakland named Zion-I performed, which was awesome.
All in all, I had fun. I just hope that all these young, privileged people do something with this awareness.Here are some links to things that I think are cool:
http://blog.lunapads.com/2009/02/support-cloth-pads-4-girls/
http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/
http://www.thecrunchychicken.com/2008/02/using-your-sewing-skills-for-good.html
I love that you loved the Mighty Mic Concert. I found your blog just by searching for what people thought of the concert. Just one minor correction: our causes are all human rights causes, but they are not all focused on African countries. Last night was the Congo; but the year before was focused on the situation in Burma (in SE Asia); the year before that was the Darfur genocide in Sudan; but the very first year was about Afghan women's rights. It is a minor detail, but not insignificant, I believe, because as important as the struggles of many African countries are; we cannot close ourselves off to working on the issues of the 5 other populated continents (many of which we believe to be just as important).
ReplyDelete(By "we," I mean Mighty Mic as a group, I don't mean to cast any aspersions on you for the connection you feel to the Congo, Uganda, or Africa as a continent. My purpose was only to clarify that while we tell African stories; we also tell Asian stories, indigenous stories, and hope to tell many more still.)
Ah, great - thanks for the clarification. I'm glad you liked my post, and keep up the good work! <3 Emerald
ReplyDelete