Toto's Africa - A Fantastic Rendition

Thanks to Brian Ibbott of Coverville for this video of an acappella choir from Slovenia giving a rendition of Toto's Africa which is absolutely awesome. The simulation of a rainstorm using their bodies is truly amazing. I suggest listening to the track with your eyes closed before watching it again to see the visual impact.

Their YouTube video of this item has, at the time of writing this post, reached over 1,1 million views! They have several other videos on YouTube for your enjoyment.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Perpetuum Jazzile :

African Guitarist Retrospective

With the release of "Francophonic", the Congolese singer-guitarist-bandleader François Luambo has finally got the retrospective he deserves. During his performing years he performed as "Franco". He was widely regarded as one of the greatest African musicians of the twentieth century and has been dubbed the "James Brown of Africa" and a "sorcerer of the guitar".

The album starts with a track from his first recording session in 1953 at the age of 15 and ends with a 1980 workout whose title translates as "I Don't Like You".

The two-disc set contains excellent liner notes which give fascinating facts about the music. For example : most of Franco’s international audience assumed the exquisite 1973 recording “AZDA” was a love song; it was actually a jingle for a Zairean Volkswagen dealership!

Links :

1) Buy the album here

2) Read more about the artist here

3) Download "AZDA" for $0.99

Give Opportunity To A Child

The gift of education is priceless. It is the opportunity for lives to be changed and futures to be secured; it is the chance to rise above circumstances and "change your stars".

South Africa's history of racial discrimination has resulted in a huge disparity in educational opportunities within the country. Although the national education department is hard at work to rectify the imbalances and independent schools continue to offer scholarships to previously-disadvantaged communities, more work is needed.

Lanner House School is an independent school in Worcester in the Western Cape and is trying hard to raise money for bursaries for children from previously-disadvantaged communities. They have put together a simple capital fund-raising site where pledges can be made for anything from supporting a learning area in the school to offering full bursaries to students.

I encourage you to take a look and then consider posting a blogpost about it - let's spread the word and make a difference to the future of this country!

Click here to go to the site : Lanner House Capital Fundraising

Africa Draws The Short Straw - Again...

A BBC documentary set to air in the UK on 1 July shows how British tobacco companies are targeting the youth of several African countries despite these countries having laws disallowing this and the tobacco companies having widely publicized codes of ethical marketing.

The program shows how tobacco companies use guerilla marketing to lure young people to their brand. It also shows children as young as 11 buying cigarettes and developing a life-long nicotine addiction. On a continent with 100 000 smoking-related deaths each year (this figure set to double over the next 20 years according to the World Health Organisation), this is clearly an untenable situation.

To read more go to the BBC site for this program - click here.

Why does Africa continue to be exploited by the mega-coporates of the First World? Is it simply economics without a conscience? Do those in power simply close their eyes to the explotation of a continent?

The actions of companies such as those highlighted in the BBC documentary mentioned earlier simply continue to perpetuate economic slavery on the African continent. The trade of physical bodies across oceans and indeed within Africa itself may be a thing of the past but the slavery of Africa's people to the power of the dollar continues.

It is also time for the people of Africa to draw a line in the sand and say "Enough is enough". Corruption and inefficient governance in many parts of Africa unfortunately lead to a blind eye being turned as ordinary Africans continue to suffer poverty, economic injustice and crime continue to plague our continent.

Africa - stand up!
Leaders in Africa - stand up!

Coporate power-mongers - own up!
Foreign governments - wake up!

Is this just wishful thinking or will Africa awaken from her slumber and rise to face the giants that wish to destroy her?