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Afropop Worldwide for May 21, 2008
7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
[Program Website]
Today's Highlight: "Sierra Leone: Celebration, War, and Healing"
When Sierra Leone gained independence in 1961, Freetown swayed to the beguiling, breezy lilt of palm wine guitar and danced to the funky pop of Geraldo Pino and the Heartbeats. Once a center of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Sierra Leone became an improbable amalgamation of indigenous peoples and repatriated Africans freed from slavery. Thirty years of political and economic disintegration led to a horrific civil war that claimed tens of thousands of victims and created a generation of maimed bodies and ruined lives between 1991 and 2002. Since the war, the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission has urged the use of music to bring about healing. This program will profile the inspiring story of the Refugee All Stars, a band formed in war-era refugee camps in Guinea. This band played a key role in giving citizens the courage to return home, and now, along with other young musicians in Freetown, attempt to pick up where others left off before the war. Members of the band will speak in this program, including a young rapper who gives us an entrée into the country's emerging hip hop generation.
A one-hour weekly showcase of music and information from Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas. Hosted by Georges Collinet from Cameroon, Afropop Worldwide draws on an unprecedented array of reporters, artists, and cultural guides to present an hour that is authoritative, comprehensive, and hugely entertaining.
Afropop Worldwide blends a rich array of global music with lively interviews and insightful stories on world-class talents and the music they create. Each carefully crafted broadcast features live concert tape, exclusive interviews, visits to musicians' houses, urban ambiance from around the African Diaspora, and rare recordings.
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