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Anu maheshwari
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Keeping culture and identity alive amidst turmoil !
June 8, 2007 - 02:26 AM
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[link="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article16354"]
Nubians use hip-hop to preserve culture
June 23, 2006 (NAIROBI) — On a recent night in downtown Nairobi, beneath a nightclub’s orange neon lights and spinning disco ball, dozens of descendants of Africa’s ancient Nubian tribe gathered in full regalia to perform traditional music.
But the crowd, who turned out in force for Nubian Night, was not there just for a glimpse into the past. About an hour into the concert, the vibe switched from plaintive drumming and chanting to loud, explosive hip-hop.
The concert was designed for Nubians in Kenya — there are believed to be 200,000 of them here — to keep their traditions alive and relevant by fusing them with modern sensibilities.
"In every community, the culture is getting lost," said Yousouph Noah, a 26-year-old rapper who helped organize the concert. "I grew up in this community so I have the knowledge of traditional music. But I just combined it with the music of the younger people, hip-hop."
Nubians came to Kenya from Egypt and Sudan after serving with the British Army in the King’s African Rifles regiment during World War I. The British then settled them in what is now a sprawling Nairobi slum, Kibera, a maze of dwellings topped by rusting iron roofs. Noah lives in Kibera.
"I am using my popularity. All the youth, they listen to me," said Noah, who goes by the name Refigah, the Nubian word for friend, and performs in Arabic with a bit of Swahili.
Many reminders of the ancient civilization of Nubia — located in today’s Southern Egypt and Northern Sudan — were nearly lost with the construction of Egypt’s Aswan High Dam, which was completed in 1971 about 425 miles south of Cairo. The dam forced tens of thousands of Nubians to leave the land that now lies under the dam’s huge reservoir.
Incorporating traditional beliefs into modern music isn’t new - Beninoise singer Angelique Kidjo has been incorporating traditional African sounds into her music for years, and Muslim musicians such as the group Native Deen from the Washington, D.C., area, or Capital D from Chicago have espoused traditional Islamic messages.
The Nubian Night performers, some of whom were Muslim, didn’t carry a religious message — the concert was held at a bar with free-flowing alcohol, which is forbidden under Islam, and one performer was trailed by three scantily clad women while audience members hooted and handed him money.
read more ..........
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Hayk
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Re: Keeping culture and identity alive amidst turmoil !
June 20, 2007 - 11:09 AM
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Western values sweep the whole world...
That was inevitable. Everything popular speards rapidly...Everythign popular always find a target group of appeal.
But there is always a small amount of individuals who preserve the best of their culture and tradition!
Hope there will always be some keepers of traditions because one cannot require the that from big majority in these days..
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Anu maheshwari
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Re: Keeping culture and identity alive amidst turmoil !
June 20, 2007 - 02:53 PM
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Yes Hayk you are very correct...
I think people often interpret the word 'culture' in a negative and regressive way.
They regard it as something that is opposite to progress.
We can actually preserve our culture being as progressive as we want ...one of the most important thing needed to be preserved is 'language'....as silencing a language actually kills a part of you that finds expression in that particular language.
As Margaret Atwood has said...
"A voice is a human gift; it should be cherished and used, to utter fully human speech as possible. Powerlessness and silence go together"
and again ..."The Eskimos have 52 words for snow because it is so special to them"
Check this out ;
Economic Development vs Ethnic Minority Culture
The 55 ethnic minorities have maintained their own rich traditions and customs.
From the hinterlands of the north, to the lush jungles in the south, from the mountains of Taiwan in the east, to the top of the world in the west, China serves as a home to 56 distinct ethnicities. The largest group, the Han, make up over 92% of China's vast population, and it's the elements of Han civilization that the world considers to be "Chinese culture."
Yet, the 55 ethnic minorities, nestled away on China's vast frontiers, have maintained their own rich traditions and customs, and are all part of Chinese culture. At the just-concluded the Chinese People's Political and Consultative Conference, or CPPCC, China's top advisory body, minority delegates were demanding that more attention be paid to the protection of ethnic cultures, some of which are even in danger of extinction.
How many minority folk songs can you sing? Ask this question to a child of a big Chinese city and you may receive a disappointing answer.
read more.................................
[link="http://www.newsgd.com/culture/pic/200503160072.htm"]
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prieten47
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Re: Keeping culture and identity alive amidst turmoil !
June 20, 2007 - 10:41 PM
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I read in the newspaper yesterday that one of the last African tribes that lives by hunting-gathering, the Hadzabe tribe in Tanzania, is losing its homeland, because the Dubai Royal family wants their land for a private "safari playground." The Tanzanian government is going ahead with the sale, because they think the Hadzabe are "backward" and have resisted attempts to "civilize" them. The Hadzabe live in small groups which are ruled by consensus. They sell wild honey to make a little money, but basically live from hunting animals and gathering natural plants.
The full story is here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/09/AR2007060901465.html?nav=rss_print/asection
Probably nothing can be done to help them. It is just sad to see another bit of the Earth's diversity disappear.
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Michael Jacko
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Re: Keeping culture and identity alive amidst turmoil !
June 25, 2007 - 11:52 AM
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the indigneous peoples that survived the genocidal policies of canada and the US were forced to assimilate. the process was supposed "to kill the indian within" and they were good at it. there were 53 different indigenous languages in 'canada' at one point, only 3 will survive for a few more generations. it was once illegal to perform ceremonies and children in residential schools were beaten for speaking their language. google "residential schools" or "the residential school experience". most of the world is not aware of the acts of genocide that the US and canada have commited against the indigenous ppl and continue to. 1/3 of the children would die in the schools, 1/3 would shortly after, and the other 1/3 were the survivors. after the res school, they indignous came back to their 'communties' with a lot of very unhealthy learnt behaviours e.g. sexual abuse (which was learnt from the priests). now the indignous ppl have the highest rates of drug/alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, poverty/unemployment, violence, incarceration, HIV, diabetes, etc, and they only make up 3% of the population in canada and i think 1% in the US( maybe less). since the arrival of the colonizers, the indigenous population has decreased about 98%. and most of the ppl on north america have become complicit in the genocide, acting as if the US and Canada we're legitimate states. look up international law: it is a crime against humanity to target the children of specific ethnic groups(residential schools and the 60's scoop), and/or prevent there births of a specific group(forced sterilization). also google "the indian act" which is still being used today(canada).
the models used here in north america we're to be used in other settler pojects across the world: Australia, Africa(most famous being the South African Apartied who also had reserves!!), Nazi Germany, and now the in palistine! problaly even more places like argitina too.
canada is the best colonial project ever, that explains how ppl can depopoulate such a large land mass and still come out looking like a "peace keeper"!
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Anu maheshwari
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Re: Keeping culture and identity alive amidst turmoil !
June 26, 2007 - 01:25 PM
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mikej wrote:
the indigneous peoples that survived the genocidal policies of canada and the US were forced to assimilate. the process was supposed "to kill the indian within" and they were good at it. there were 53 different indigenous languages in 'canada' at one point, only 3 will survive for a few more generations. it was once illegal to perform ceremonies and children in residential schools were beaten for speaking their language. google "residential schools" or "the residential school experience". most of the world is not aware of the acts of genocide that the US and canada have commited against the indigenous ppl and continue to. 1/3 of the children would die in the schools, 1/3 would shortly after, and the other 1/3 were the survivors. after the res school, they indignous came back to their 'communties' with a lot of very unhealthy learnt behaviours e.g. sexual abuse (which was learnt from the priests). now the indignous ppl have the highest rates of drug/alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, poverty/unemployment, violence, incarceration, HIV, diabetes, etc, and they only make up 3% of the population in canada and i think 1% in the US( maybe less). since the arrival of the colonizers, the indigenous population has decreased about 98%. .............................).
canada is the best colonial project ever, that explains how ppl can depopoulate such a large land mass and still come out looking like a "peace keeper"!
i would not have been so touched and influenced by the happenings had i just read about them in the history textbooks which devote hardly one or two pages to the entire First nations history...
But reading novels like In Search of April Raintree and Jeannette Armstrong's Slash actually took me through what went through and probably still go through....
Writing and expressing their story though art and literature is one of the ways in which they can claim their place in history and present.... and also identify themselves...
But I do believe that Canada can be a true multicultural country as the young canadians I know respect differences and diversity....
the best example is TIG , a remarkable initiative from the Canadian youth to unite the youth around the world 
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Lisa Campbell Salazar
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Re: Keeping culture and identity alive amidst turmoil !
August 4, 2007 - 02:05 PM
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I think it's interesting how Hip Hop has transformed and integrated itself into global youth culture. Everywhere it manifests itself it takes on new representations and qualities. I think that there are certain elements of Hip Hop that honor street knowledge, breaking down silence and giving permission for people to speak up and be heard. Unfortunately not everything about Hip Hop is positive, and the corporate mainstreaming of this cultural movement has seemed to embrace sexism and materialism. As well Hip Hop has been narrowed down and packaged as Rap music, as opposed to a multi-media art form.
Hip Hop is touted as Universal, but it is not a part of every youth's day to day reality. Many youth who don't have access to TV, and internet have never heard of Hip Hop. Other youth have, and don't necessarily like it as a musical genre. Hip Hop is not everyone's cup of tea, so to assume that it is can fall under western cultural imperialism.
Hip Hop is doing many positive things around the world, but many times this label has replaced words like multi-cultural when it comes to youth programming. Youth are more than Hip Hop, and hopefully there will be many more styles to come. Many people say that Hip Hop is already dead (Thanks VIACOM!), but I still see it living on in my own city, changing lives and creating positive vibrations around the world.
This post was edited on: 2007-08-04 at 02:06 PM by: Lisa Campbell
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