We had a sit down with Paolo Genovesi, global citizen, self-declared pro-Apartheid supporter, turned pan-Africanist. On the effect of music, musicians, and one musician in particular - Johnny Clegg - affected his life and altered his worldview. Sit back for a lengthy read of an interesting conversation that covers a lot of topics.
#Africa
Johnny Clegg, South-African musical icon and anti-apartheid activist
You cannot rule another man's land
SRV's famous track 'Life Without You' as recorded on the live album "Live Alive", released on Epic Records in 1986. The track is only available on the vinyl double LP release, and omitted from later CD releases. Why? Maybe because of the rather political statement SRV makes in this particular version.
On the deportation of African nationals from Europe & America
Deportation of African nationals from Europe and America has come to be accepted as a norm; just as normal as you would hear folks discuss corruption in Nigeria, piracy in Somalia and fighting in the Congo.
My Identity
RootWords is an independent rap artist born in the United States to Zambian parents. He lives in Switzerland from where he reaches out to an audience of listeners with his rap music. In 2016, RootWords released the EP "Inappropriate Behaviour" featuring the track, 'My Identity' which got a review on the UbuntuFM Hip-Hop website. UbuntuFM's Ikenna Okeh reached out to RootWords for this exclusive.
The speech credited as the inspiration for Bob Marley's hit song "War"
This story recounts the attempts of one mortal man and humanity at large to establish everlasting peace instead of waging perpetual war. A struggle of good over evil.
The right to self-determination
If we are under the perception that Africa’s problems are so huge, complex, and diverse. Where to start? How to establish real change? How to improve people's lives and futures? Thomas Sankara, President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987, continues to live on in the memory of his people.
An epic African story of adventure told in narrative verse
This is a saga of an African tribe who lived a long time ago; a very long time before the coming of the first Europeans to their part of the world. It is a narrative verse which finely blends the elements of prose and poetry to tell a story that takes the reader over distant lands, to bear witness to the exploits of a people whom the reader would never otherwise get to see.
Dr. Mamphela Ramphele on “must-do's" for Africa
It has taken a tiny organism, SARS-CoV-2, to get even the most conservative traditionalists to accept that state institutions are essential to mobilizing national resources to protect and promote the common good. The fragilities of neoliberal economics have been laid bare.
Language is a culture
Maazi Ogbonnaya is an academic, writer, and translator of the Igbo language. His work aims at preserving and reviving the language & culture of one of Africa's largest ethnic groups. UbuntuFM reached out to Mr. Ogbonnaya for this exclusive interview. Language is a culture. Culture is people. No one lives without language.