Tuesday 3 January 2012

Singing to change the world

Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart larger.” - Ben Okri, Nigerian author.

Africans have this thing called ‘ubuntu’. We believe that a person is a person through another person, that my humanity is bound up, inextricably, with yours. - Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, member of The Elders.
Map by nordpil.com from The Environmental Food Crisis (UNEP, 2009)



Artists, writers and musicians can help change the world!  

For COP-17 at Durban, a coalition of ecojustice NGOs in Moving-Planet.org launched a "RadioWave" campaign. They urge that you contact local radio stations (tips on how to get air plays, and report successes) to play the song “People Power” and related podcasts. The song calls us to action — using people power to change the world and create a brighter future.

Lyrics of “People Power” by singers Marie Daulne (Congo), Angelique Kidjo (Benin), Talib Kweli (USA), Ahmed Soultan (Morocco), Jabulani Tsambo and Zolani Mahola (S.Africa); instrumentalists are Yaw Asumadu – djembe, dondo, kpanlogo drums (Ghana); Tinotenda Dambaneunga – drums (South Africa); Hassan Erraji – oud, darabuka, bendir (Morocco); Sonah Jobarteh – kora (Gambia/U.K.); bra Themba Mokoena – guitar (South Africa); Korey Riker – tenor sax, baritone sax (U.S.); Gama Sibeko – percussion (South Africa); Ahmed Soultan – Rik, Derbuka, Tarra and clap (Morocco); Anthony Tidd – guitar, bass, keyboard (U.S.); Steve Tirpak – trombone, trumpet (U.S.).
Angelique Kidjo (singing in Fon, the language of Benin)
Let’s get together
Let’s all get involved
In changing the world
...
Talib Kweli (American hip-hop)
Everybody wanna be a gangster 
Wavin their flag for the set they claim 
democrat, republican, crip or blood you can switch it up, really it’s all the same 
Just corrupted agendas, public offenders, they ain’t come to defend us, Government is against us, workin’ for corporate interests, we’ve been hoodwinked. 
They walkin’ all over you with carbon footprints

But look man we gotta find common ground, a common theme on which we gotta agree 
We need the sea, we need the trees, we need the air, we got to breathe 
fossil fuels got us livin' like dinosaurs, eatin' up the resources like carnivores 
What we need is a new energy solution, for mother nature is not the enemy.

CHORUS
Turn it around
Drilling for energy, like you cannot see the Sun
Iphendule [‘turn it around’ in isiZulu ]
This earth belongs to everyone
Turn it around
Mining for energy, like you’ve never felt the wind
Iphendule [‘turn it around’ in isiZulu ]
Time to change so we can live

HOOK CHORUS in isiZulu[in English]
Jika Turn
Umhlabawethu This world is our world
Jika Turn
Masihlangane Let’s get together
Jika Turn
Umoya wethu This is our spirit
Jika Turn
Simuntumunye We are one or none

Download the song and additional podcasts here.

Moving-Planet comments: "Africa is the continent that is most vulnerable to climate change (according to the recent Maplecroft report, of the world’s most highly vulnerable countries, approximately two-thirds are located in Africa). These impacts include more severe droughts, increasing deserts, worsening storms that damage people’s croplands, and sea level rise affecting the coastal communities.  People in the Eastern Horn of Africa are already being forced off their homelands due to the drought and famine made worse by climate change. The African continent also has a rich history and recent past of fighting injustice, of creativity, of perseverance, of communal caring, and of traditional wisdom of living in harmony with nature. And it is the birthplace of humanity – all people, the world over, carry memories of Africa in their cells."
Global warming is set to make many of the problems which Africa already deals with, much, much worse. …The great tragedy is that Africa has played virtually no role in global warming, a problem caused by economic activity of the rich, industrial countries.” - Andrew Simms, New Economics Foundation

No comments: