Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars and FELA! On Broadway partner to present a two-night, pre-Independence Day Celebration of Sierra Leone’s Cultural Renaissance
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April 13: Sierra Leone Night at FELA!, Starring Sierra Leonean Sahr Ngaujah [TICKETS]
April 14: “Sierra Leone Rising” at the Highline Ballroom, a Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars record release concert featuring Special Guests including BAJAH + THE DRY EYE CREW; The Bubu King, Janka Nabay; and Sahr Ngaujah [TICKETS]
**DONATE $5 to International Rescue Committee (IRC) refugee assistance programs in Sierra Leone and throughout the world by texting REFUGEE to 25383
The Highline Ballroom Show is part of an extensive tour on which the All Stars are partnering with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to raise awareness about the needs of refugees. The All Stars first formed and performed in refugee camps in Guinea where the IRC managed school programs, health clinics and other critical services for tens of thousands of Sierra Leoneans who escaped civil war at home. Since then, in electrifying live performances and recording experience with the likes of Aerosmith and Mavis Staples, the All Stars have been “establishing an identity based as much on skill, imagination and charisma as on their undeniably touching story” (The Los Angeles Times). (The band’s remarkable journey was documented in the multi-award winning documentary Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, by Zach Niles and Banker White.
“Amid their shared experience of living as refugees [the All Stars] found a common cause—to play beautiful music, bring cheer and hope to refugees who fled a brutal war and help them forget the horrors they left behind,” says International Rescue Committee spokeswoman Melissa Winkler. “Their music became an antidote to the misery, monotony and uncertainty that Sierra Leonean refugees faced each day, and their music continues to be an inspiration to refugees around the world.” Read More »
“If you have been to any of The Roots jam sessions, you know that [B-DEC] is one performance you are NOT to miss… they shut down Carnegie Hall… they shut down every performance they’ve been too..”
Joining B-DEC at the Roots Picnic 2010 are Vampire Weekend, Mayer Hawthorne, The Clipse, The Very Best, Tune-Yards, Das Rascist, Pattern is Movement, The Money Making Jam Boys, a special set with DJ Jazzy Jeff on the turn tables and ?uesto working percussion, and of course performances from The Legendary Roots Crew. In an effort to out-do the memorable Roots x Public EnemyIt Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back performance from last year (a tall feat), ?uesto drops a hint that a reunion for the ages will be going down on stage this year. Judging by his hints I’m guessing it’s some trio from queens who wore fedoras, shell toed Adidas, and dookie rope gold chains. (Source: okayplayer.com)
“When Bajah & Dry Eye Crew came together in Sierra Leone in 2000, the country was coming out of a horrific civil war that left towns and villages destroyed and many thousands murdered, maimed, and psychologically scarred. Dry eye means boldness in local slang; in rebuilding, that quality would be much in need. Bajah’s contribution is an exuberant new strain of pop music with a heavy hip-hop and reggae component, using international youth sounds to deliver messages of optimism and uplift…” [FULL ARTICLE] [SHOW INFORMATION]
“Bajah + the Dry Eye Crew, a three-man Sierra Leonean hip-hop group relocated to New York City, tore into socially conscious party music that draws from both sides of the Atlantic: African and Caribbean grooves, three-part harmony and raspy dancehall toasting, denunciations of ‘hypocrites’ and ‘bloodsuckers’ and calls for love and dancing.” (Photo: Richard Perry/The New York Times)
“It’s about passing the right message to the whole wide world… Much love and respect to the fullest. Peace is what we want all over the world. We’re all on the same train and love is the answer.” -Bajah @ Ragga Muffins Festival
What does Bajah + the Dry Eye Crew have in common with Iggy Pop, Regina Spektor, Patti Smith, and Gogol Bordello? CARNEGIE HALL, FEB. 26! Tickets still available **CLICK HERE**
Tibet House US works to:
Present to the West Tibet’s ancient traditions of art and culture by means of creating a permanent Cultural Center, with Gallery, Library, and Archives,and developing traveling exhibitions, print publications and media productions;
Preserve and restore Tibet’s unique cultural and spiritual heritage, by means of developing a Repatriation Collection for future repatriation of outstanding examples of Tibetan art, creating an archive of rare photographs, opening a research library, creatinga website for the wide distribution of information, and providing support to conservation activities both inside and outside of Tibet;
Share with the world Tibet’s practical systems of spiritual philosophy and mind sciences, and its arts of human development, intercultural dialogues, nonviolence, and peacemaking, by means of innovative programs in cooperation with educational and other cultural institutions.
World Up works with refugee children in New York City; Bajah and Co. visited them last year to share their own experiences as refugees from the civil war in Sierra Leone.
In the heart of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, United Nations soldiers guard a heavily fortified building known as the “special court.” Inside, Issa Sesay awaits his trial.
Prosecutors say Sesay is a war criminal, guilty of crimes against humanity. His defenders say he is a reluctant fighter who protected civilians and played a crucial role in bringing peace.
WAR DON DON tells the story of a sensational trial with unprecedented access to prosecutors, defense attorneys, victims and, from behind bars, Sesay himself.
In Krio, war don don means “the war is over,” and although today Sierra Leone is at peace, the specter of war remains ever-present. Can the trial of one man uncover the truth of a traumatic past? International justice is on trial for the world to see.
Collection for future repatriation of outstanding examples of Tibetan art, creating an archive of rare photographs, opening a research library, creatinga website for the wide distribution of information, and providing support to conservation activities both inside and outside of Tibet;
