Activism comes in many forms, for centuries Pan Africanists across the world have had the assistance of artist-activists to help provide the musical backdrop for resistance to enslavement, colonialism, racism and today’s globalisation. From blues to jazz, reggae to Afrobeat, many artists have used their gifts to offer social commentary and solidarity in opposition to injustice and oppression across the world. Be it Billy Holidays’ “Strange Fruit”, Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power”, Fela Kuti’s “Zombie” or John Coltrane’s “Alabama”. However the civil rights struggle was not limited to the US.
Despite African people being whitewashed from the official history of human rights in the UK, many British based artists have also contributed to the struggle with tracks from acts such as Steel Pulse and their “Ku Klux Klan” to Des’ree’s ode to standing firm with “I Ain’t Moving”. Whilst this story may not be told in British schools, it is archived in the many songs, films, poetry and literature of that period.
Musvism is a fun and educational presentation using conscious music from across Africa, the US, the Caribbean and Britain to chart the route of socio-political activism across many eras and genres. Come learn African history though great music.
This is a Nyansapo program by the Ligali Organisation for the AntiUniversity festival. “The AU – Teaching and Learning as Direct Action”
Toyin Agbetu is a community educator, artist-activist-anthropologist and founder of Ligali, a Pan African human rights based organisation.
Website: www.ligali.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ligaliorg
Antiuniversity Now is a collaborative experiment to challenge institutionalised education, access to learning and the mechanism of knowledge creation and distribution. Initiated in 2015, Antiuniversity Now was set up to reignite the 1968 Antiuniversity of London with the intention to challenge academic and class hierarchy and the exclusivity of the £9K-a-year-degree by inviting people to organise and share learning events in public spaces all over the country.
Antiuniversity Now events are organised by academics and autodidacts, experts and enthusiasts and are open to all regardless of experience, background, age or qualification. They are free, accessible and inclusive and are delivered using non-hierarchical, participatory and democratic pedagogy.