In this article they interview the hip-hop artist Emmanuel Jal. He was taken from his family to be trained as a child soldier for the Sudan People's Liberation Army at age 7. His younger sister was raped, and his older sister was taken by a warlord to be made his wife. His family had to let her go to insure their safety, but she was beaten and was giving birth to kids. He couldn't help her and that temepted him to pick up and AK-47 but told himself "I am not going to do that anymore. I am going to use my music." He was rescued at age 14 and educated in Kenya where he discovered American Hip-hop. He is now releasing a highly political brand of hip-hop.
I thought it was really inspiring how he refused to use violence and decided that he would change things using his music instead. It's even more inspiring that he went out and did just that. His music has helped many people to understand just how far hes gone and where hes been. Jal also protested the Olympics in Beijing. "China is taking oil from Sudan and bringing in guns." He wanted to stand up to the world and say ''China is also responsible for genocide in Sudan.''
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Candice, I'm glad you picked this article. It does lend credence to the old saying that music can soothe even the savage beast. Any well done work of art can be a powerful tool for articulating an impactful message.
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