Non-Alignment Pact

Buried in the international section of the Inqy I saw a small story on Rwanda and their decision to stop teaching French in favor of English in the nation's schools (syndicated from the WaPo, of course, in this era of shrinking newsrooms). The article is mostly blase, operating on the assumption of French's diminishing role in the world. In particular, it prints a horrendous quote by Theoneste Mutsindashyaka, Rwanda's state minister for education: "When you look at the French-speaking countries - it's really just France, and a small part of Belgium and a small part of Switzerland."

Tell that to the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (Fr only, natch) and its claim of 200 million French speakers on five continents. I guess the minister never took a look at this map. Across the pond, The Guardian dug a little deeper, pulling a better quote from Vincent Karenga, the Trade and Industry Minister: "French is spoken only in France, some parts of west Africa, parts of Canada and Switzerland." Still off-base -- he didn't even mention Belgium, the very reason French is spoken in Rwanda -- but at least he got West Africa, a massive stronghold of French and the very reason French will remain a major language over the coming decades.

Of course, the article appropriately links the decision to lingering anger at the French for their role in the Rwandan genocide and a wider post-colonial push away from European powers, especially former colonizer francophone Belgium. But as an assiduous observer of French as a language of resistance in the Americas, from Louisiana to the Caribbean to Québec, I'm sorry to hear it couldn't occupy a more positive role in Rwanda. Its role in Africa is more as a common thread across countries filled with hundreds of local languages. That, in part, has rendered Dakar such a hub for African hip-hop -- a swirl of languages with French usually running through.

I wonder how politics will trickle down to affect culture vis-à-vis Rwandan hip-hop. The excellent Africanhiphop.com points to an excited local scene with the usual hybrid of languages (Swahili, the local Kinyarwanda, French, and English). Several profiles point to French-language schools that rappers attdended as children. But as that shifts in the coming generation, it's only logical that French will fall by the wayside, and by extension the tour dates to France and Canada will be replaced by the UK and the U.S.

Harvardia Africana

I'm approaching the 36-hour-till-deadline mark and don't think I'll be out in full force for the conference, but it's been the culmination of the African Hip-Hop Research Project's hard work, especially Lidet Tilahun, a one-woman rallying cry for the importance of African hip-hop. I'm nominally the research and collections coordinator, although the funding for that never did come through. We did get one of the guys from X-Plastaz on campus last year, and in fact MC Gsan's buddy Mohammed Yunus from the Aang Serian Peace Village, who was also there, will be back for this weekend's conference.

Other highlights include Emmanuel Jal (Sudanese ex-child soldier turned rapper, with some serious marketing muscle behind him these days) and Youssou N'Dour (Senegalese mbalax extraordinaire). The latter makes me scratch my head: If you're going to bring someone over from Dakar, undisputed capital of West African hip-hop (where even the election can get a hip-hop tinge!), why not Awadi or Alif or Pee Froiss?

He's a very world music choice too, and the conference seems short on the nu whirld music: no mention of kwaito or kuduro.

But maybe he'll perform at the as yet unannounced concert, which I believe is free. N'Dour and Jal on the same bill would be a steal -- I'm sure they're quite expensive elsewhere!

Back to work, clock is ticking and Rio isn't getting any easier to figure out . . .

Tanzania stand up

Bostonians, take heed:

Dar es Salaam is just under 8,000 miles from the South Bronx, birthplace of hip-hop, but don't tell that to Tanzania's burgeoning rap scene.

On Thursday, February 15 at 6 pm, the Harvard Film Archive will screen Hali Halisi (Swahili for "the real situation"), a documentary on Tanzanian hip-hop, emblematic of hip-hop's growth in Africa -- and indeed the world -- as a medium for social change. HIV/AIDS, unemployment, corruption, and democracy are some of the themes cropping up in hip-hop's new global vanguard.

At the screening, meet one of the film's subjects, MC Gsan from acclaimed group X Plastaz, alongside Raja Mohamed Yunus of the Aang Serican Peace Village.

If you can't make the screening -- or even if you can -- come by the following day, Friday, February 15, as the two will host a workshop on how Tanzanian youth are addressing pressing social issues via hip-hop.

Hali Halisi Workshop
at The Harvard Advocate
21 South St.
Cambridge, MA

Friday, February 16
12 Noon - 1 PM

Presented by the African Hip-Hop Research Project at Cultural Agents, in collaboration with the Committee on African Studies.

Workshop co-sponsored by The Harvard Advocate and The Darker Side (WHRB)

Questions? Contact Lidet Tilahun (tilahun@fas.harvard.edu).



X-Plastaz - Msimu kwa msimu