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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2008, pages 57-58 Music & Arts Can Hip Hop Beat Conflict?
THE UNITED STATES Institute of Peace hosted an April 18 panel discussion on the effects of hip hop music and culture in zones of conflict. Marc Sommers, associate professor of humanitarian studies at Tufts University, who studied the effect of hip hop on the conflict in Sierra Leone, explained the context in which hip hop is spreading: “We’re living in the age of youth,” he said. “This is the youngest population of human beings in history, with 85 percent of all youth living in the developing world.” Abeer, a Palestinian hip hop artist from Israel whose stage name is Sabreena da Witch, said she grew up not always knowing where she fit in in her country. “Hip hop taught me who I am,” she explained. “It said, ‘You are different, you can be a free person.’ With hip hop, we knew we were able to talk about our rights.” Hip hop can be a vehicle for teaching and for challenging the rationale for conflict. “Through hip hop we’re trying to get people in America to know what their taxes are going to—they’re going to war,” Abeer noted. “With hip hop, we are able to talk to the world. We want people to see Palestinians as different from the terrorists who bombed the bus.” Fellow panelist Silas Balabyekkubo, whose stage name is Babaluku, is a Ugandan-born hip hop artist living in Canada. His family left Uganda when he was a child amidst the backdrop of violence in the north. He said he found a global connection with Abeer. “To see this sister from Palestine describing the same struggles with the kids that I was working with in northern Uganda, to me, that’s mind boggling,” he said. “You see, we’re not in separation on that level. We’re finding out that hip hop is uniting us.” As a young man listening to hip hop Silas said he was inspired “to look at my roots, look at originality, look at the power within.” That message propelled him to return to Uganda and see what positives he could bring to his war-torn homeland. This led to the creation of the Bavubuka Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to connect young people in Uganda with music and art. Silas described his mission as a call for action, “understanding we are all capable of doing something.” A few years ago, the U.S. State Department approached Carl Walker (stage name Kokayi), a Washington, DC-based hip hop artist, about touring several countries with its Rhythm Roads program. Walker initially thought his group would be sent to England or France, but was told he needed to go to areas of conflict. “So we went to Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and Israel,” Walker said. The sarcastic American in him thought, “The politicians can’t do it. That’s right, send in hip hop. That’s the voice of the youth, of struggle and pain. We need to give people a definition of real hip hop living real life.” On that trip, hip hop definitely served as a form of dialogue, a crucial component of developing understanding. Walker recalled the time members of the audience approached him after he finished a show at Bethlehem University in the West Bank. “They said, ‘Thank you for coming. Can you see now that we aren’t all terrorists?’ I said I know, and we aren’t all gun-toting thugs.” But, Walker cautioned, “These stories are just stories without action.” Silas reinforced the point, saying, “If knowledge is power, I think it’s time to activate the power part instead of just sitting on the knowledge. You’ve got to make the power come to fruition.” A case in point is the town of Gulu in northern Uganda, in which the Bavabuku Foundation works. “Hip hop is bringing hope in Gulu,” Silas said. “The only reason is because they own it. It’s giving young people that ownership of changing their communities.” For more information, see the documentary on Palestinian hip hop, <www.slingshothiphop.com>; Bavubuka Foundation, <www.bavubuka.com>; and the U.S. Department of State Rhythm Roads program, <http://exchanges.state.gov/education/citizens/culture/performing/rhythm.htm>. —Josh Walsh |
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