Tumi’s call to artists, brands, people, Africans
It’s about time us Africans did something to stand up for our continent and people rather than waiting on others to do it for us. Not that we are unappreciative, we just believe that in addition to the global efforts for Africa, it would mean so much more if we were initiating action ourselves. One of Represent’s favourite musicians and MC’s Tumi Molekane has decided to do just that. In an open letter, Tumi is asking for aknowledgement, support, cooperation and help to put together an event highlighting the Darfur region’s horrific strife and ongoing humanitarian disaster. Some may mutter that charity starts at home, but if you know anything about the situation you’ll know that they need all the help they can get before it’s too late. If you believe that we have the power to make a difference to our continent, read his letter below and share it with everyone you know, particularly those who can get involved and make a difference. We’re behind you Tumi. As always. Let us know how we can help.
You can see satellite images from Amnesty International and catch eyewitness reports here.
An open letter from Tumi
For Space, for Dignity, for Recognition, for Survival, for Darfur
Peace folks,
Since 2003 the Darfur region in Sudan has been plunged into a bloody and disturbing conflict that has seen 200,000 people killed and 2 million displaced according to U.N figures. The conflict has many interwoven causes; from the structural inequality between the centre of the country around the Nile and the peripheral areas such as Darfur, to environmental calamity, political opportunism and also absurd Arab-African regional politics. The cause of the conflict is not the purpose of this letter. It is the devastating effects of the conflict that drive me to this point. In scenes frightfully resembling Rwanda, villages have been depopulated, looted, burnt to the ground, non-combatants have suffered dismemberment and brutal killings at the hand of militias. Rape has also been employed as a weapon in this conflict, women are raped in the open to humiliate them as they are ostracized and culturally considered unclean.
“ITS HAPPENING AGAIN, ARE WE GOING TO JUST MAKE MOVIES ABOUT IT ONCE THE MURDERERS HAVE THEIR FILL”
For the longest time I thought, these things get sorted out by governments and leaders with the profile of Kofi Annan and that all i could do about it is pray that my government was somehow involved in trying to secure a lasting peace agreement that could be honored by the warring parties. For others the apathy is a worsening illness that sees many desensitized to a chilling numbness by daily world news reports of deaths, bombings, political corruption and famines. What is doubly troubling about this situation is the reaction from some sections of the international community, which can be described as minimal at best and anti-human at worst, following the Sudanese government in calling cries of genocide as overreactions and exaggerations. Well folks, the difference between war crimes and genocide matter little to one who tends to a mass grave.
URGENT ACTION NEEDED
In light of the coming rain season, access to the camps most of the internally displaced people inhabit will be severely limited and will leave them cut off from aid. Also the rains will foster a breeding ground for diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, measles, meningitis and malaria. Aid workers have made an urgent appeal for funds to alleviate the hardships of the coming months. Humanitarian organizations have been in Sudan saving lives despite the remoteness of the region and continued instability. There are people doing much to raise the awareness of this humanitarian crisis, through websites, rallies and even organized boycotts of countries violating a U.N arms embargo on Sudan. Even the so-called ‘token’ African Union peacekeeping force, which with no clear mandate to protect citizens, is out there doing their bit and being targeted by the militia.
WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY DO?
I am not a soldier, nor am I an aid worker. I am an artist making music inspired greatly by the beauty and troubled disturbances of this soil. I would like to extend my voice to fellow artist, musicians, painters, poets, producers, promoters, media personalities, radio stations, T.V programs, big business, small business, party leaders, city leaders, regional leaders, national leaders but especially the artist, particularly the musician. I have always believed the musician is as powerful if not more powerful than some political leaders. Some of your work exists as a force of nature to transform, cleanse, destroy, and resurrect.
You carry favor with the people, they love you because you speak to them and about them. You help them rejoice, cry, protest, live, survive even die. To use the power of your talent not as an elitist license that separates us as people above society or people outside society, I appeal especially to you brothers and sisters. I propose an event that will utilize our creative talents to draw the masses and business’ attention to the plight of the people of Darfur.
An event that will see a united musical community gather in solidarity with the people of Sudan and help our own country understand the severity of the situation in Darfur, help raise not just the awareness but the funds needed in this difficult time. And it is true that in our own country we have problems that need desperate attention, from the scourge of H.I.V to the debilitating poverty. Problems on our soil that have seen countless countries support us in the past, countries with their own problems and issues but who understand their duty as citizens of the world. I appeal to you, be for space, for dignity, for recognition, for survival, for Darfur.
Peace.
