African News Series
Uganda’s Diamonds in the Rough
By Carlton R. Van Lowe
WI Contributing Writer
Uganda’s musical landscape is rapidly changing. Hip-hop music is on the rise in this African nation. Silas Balabyekkubo, known as Bakaluka, is one of the country’s most prominent rapper.
His rise to musical fame has not been easy. Babaluka’s father, a preacher, was killed in a car accident, under suspicious circumstances. His preaching messages were considered subversive by the government, and it is widely believed that he was murdered.
Fearing for their safety, Babaluka’s family left Uganda and settled down in Canada. There, Babaluka began his musical journey. Together with other Ugandans, they formed the group Bataka Underground, and later renamed the group Bataka Squad.
After years of struggle, the group emerged as Uganda’s leading hip hop artists, creating a new sound called the Lugaflow. The music is a unique blend of Ugandan hip-hop songs sung in Luganda, the country’s native language, over rhythmic hip-hop beats.
The Lugaflow sound has taken root in Uganda, and it is very popular with the youth. To chronicle Bataka Squad’s musical endeavors, members agreed to participate in a documentary titled “Diamond in the Rough: A Ugandan Hip-Hop Revolution.” This film explores the music and lives of members of Bataka Squad and other local hip-hop artists as they pursue their musical dreams.
“Diamond in the Rough” was recently showcased at the first annual Washington, D.C. Hip-Hop Peacebuilding Festival held last week at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The film screening was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Msia Kibona Clark, a visiting assisting professor from the department of African and African American Studies at Howard University. Brett Mazurek, the films producer and director, was on hand to discuss the film, along with Babaluka and Fredinah F. Payton aka Rah-P.
After the event the Ugandan hip-hop artists sat down with their American audiences, and talked candidly about their musical endeavors, ambitions, and the film. For more information on Bataka Squad see Web site: www.batakasquad.com.
Carlton R. Van Lowe can be reached at carltonrvanlowe@yahoo.com.
The Summit of a Lifetime
By Gregory Simpkins
Special to the Informer
When Dr. Leon H. Sullivan established what has become the world’s largest Diaspora event in 1991, he called it a “Summit” because he wanted to “build a bridge” to bring together Africans, African Americans and the African Diaspora for one week in Africa. He wanted to bring his people to the continent to see the real Africa and overcome the negative images that fill American television.
The African-African American Summits were re-named in his honor after the Sullivan Foundation’s Fifth Summit in 1999. The Leon H. Sullivan Summits in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire (1991); Libreville, Gabon (1993); Dakar, Senegal (1995); Harare, Zimbabwe (1997); Accra, Ghana (1999) and Abuja, Nigeria (2003 and 2006), have always been a conference for all of Africa that takes place every two years in a host country.
Dr. Sullivan wanted his Summits to influence policy at the highest levels of government and society, and thus African and American presidents, their respective government ministers and cabinet secretaries have participated in every one.
The Sullivan Summits over the years have helped to reduce debt in several African countries, have encouraged more than 800 American educators to work in Universities, have helped send more than 400 mid-level African bankers to America for training, have stimulated exchange agreements between African universities and Black American Universities and have shipped millions of dollars worth of books, medical equipment and supplies to Africa.
Plans are now underway for the Sullivan Foundation’s Eighth Summit to be held in Arusha Tanzania in East Africa June 2 to 6. The Summit will produce African presidential declarations on corporate social responsibility through the Global Sullivan Principles on Corporate Social Responsibility; enhance African Diaspora linkages and present successful models for increasing Tanzanian and East African tourism market from North America.
For the first time ever, an organized trade mission will participate in the Summit. The Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation in Maryland will lead the delegation of county officials and entrepreneurs from the Washington metropolitan area to do business with their African counterparts.
Moreover, initiatives are underway for building a center for disadvantaged children in Dar es Salaam; initiating water drilling projects to bring fresh water to thousands of people in Arusha; funding a mosquito-net project that will create Tanzanian “malaria free zones;” sending thousands of dollars worth of books, medical equipment and supplies to Tanzania; creating a national entrepreneur and employment training program for Tanzanian youth, and facilitating commercial opportunities for the Tanzanian business community.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, the Summit host, has said he expects as many as 30 African Heads of State to attend the Summit. We have already seen the active engagement of the World Bank, the African Union, the African Development Bank and the leaders of Africa’s regional and sub-regional organizations, such as the Economic Community of West African States, the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa and the East African Community.
As President Kikwete has said, we will introduce Tanzania and East Africa to the African Diaspora, and it will truly be a “Summit of a Lifetime.”
In total, the Sullivan Foundation organizers expect 2000 to 2500 delegates to attend. This includes members of the Diaspora from America, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa, as well as Friends of Africa. Approximately 500 American delegates will be on the two Summit charter airplanes through Ethiopian Airlines that will leave from the Washington Dulles and Atlanta airports to Arusha.
Charter delegates will pay $4,495, which includes air travel, lodging, conference registration, all official meals and ground transportation. Emirates Airlines will also offer special ticket prices for participants who fly in its non-chartered planes to the Summit.
Historically, every Sullivan Summit has taken place in a large, capital city. However, the point of selecting Arusha was to afford our delegates the opportunity for sightseeing at Tanzania’s great wonders, such as Mount Kilimanjaro, Lake Manyara, the Ngorogoro Crater and other national parks.
Day trips to these sights, coffee plantations, gem mines and other attractions will be offered daily during the Summit. On June 6, our Summit charter delegates will leave Arusha and travel to Zanzibar for shopping and sightseeing before returning home to America the following day.
For more information about the Summit, call the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation at 202-736-2239 or go online at www.thesullivanfoundation.org.
Gregory Simpkins is the vice president for Policy and Program Development at the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation.
