ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from Chalya Shagaya:

Sahr Ngaujah brings high-energy Nigerian pop of Fela Kuti (Nigeria’s late Afrobeat jazz musician) to Broadway. Sahr is from Sierra Leone in West Africa. He is currently Art Director for the Sierra Leone Hip-Hop act Bajah and The Dry Eye Crew. Please find out more about the production and Ngaujah here.

Here’s a review by NYmag.com.

-Chalya Shagaya

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from Vusi Mahlasela:

Two years ago, I met an inspired young South African named Fred Swaniker at the TED conference who told me about a school he was launching in an effort to transform Africa by developing and supporting future generations of African leaders. I instantly wanted to help out.

As I’m constantly discovering how small the world is (and getting smaller), it turns out that a good friend of mine happened to be on the board of Fred’s school— The African Leadership Academy.

The school invited me to perform at their school opening in September 2008 and again this past September for their second year.

I am amazed by how motivated, creative, positive, and pioneering the students are. I know they will bring great things to this world, and I know they will be some of our many future great leaders of the continent. They are part of the promise for a better future.

I ask you to please visit the school’s site and see how you can get involved with this great mission.

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from Peter Griesar:

The truth about revolutionary thought is that to others it appears akin to madness. This is just one of the many obstacles that William Kamkwamba overcame to realize his vision of wind powered electricity and irrigation for his village.

William is the co-author with Bryan Mealer of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the story of William’s experiences growing up in Kasungu, Malawi.

It was inevitable William would follow in his father’s footsteps as a farmer. Drought and famine had halted his formal education early and it was the path so many like him had already traveled. But William always had the spark of an inventor, always innovating and never satisfied until he understood how things worked.
“If solving such mysteries was the job of a scientist, then a scientist is exactly what I wanted to become” he says in his new book with reporter Bryan Mealer, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.” “Before I discovered the miracles of science, magic ruled the world.”

And so this 14 year-old scientist set out to build his family a windmill that would produce electricity. This electricity would allow him and his family to read into the night, save money on lamp oil, and earn money from neighbors as a phone charger. And it is no exaggeration to say that this light he created with his Windmill would eventually be seen around the world.

I had the honor of meeting William and Bryan briefly here in DC a few weeks ago. I learned that William had been a fan of ONE for some time now. The photo here is from his blog.

William Kamkwamba is now 22 and will be heading back to school in January where he is studying science and working to continue bringing wind energy and hope to Malawi and beyond.

If you’d like to know more about William Kamkwamba please check out “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”, his non-profit Moving Windmills Project, his blog here, and Bryan Mealer’s blog here.

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. In a new twist on the A-List theme, musician and former A-Lister Vieux Farka Touré shares with us an NGO he wanted to bring to the attention of our readers:

I just got back to Mali after touring internationally almost non-stop since May. I’m meeting up with some Americans from an NGO called the Ouelessebougou Alliance soon, to go visit the region they work in (south of Bamako).

I had already heard about them in Mali, and this summer I actually met the people while on tour, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The work they have done – education ,health, micro-credit etc – over 35 years in the
72 villages in the region is truly amazing and I plan to do everything I can to help them.

Also check out this video about the Ouelessebougou Alliance:

Ouelessebougou Alliance from Peter Carroll on Vimeo.

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from Vusi Mahlasela:

I’m currently en route to Paris right now to meet up with some of my favorite African musicians: Angelique Kidjo, Rokia Traore, Habib Koite and more. Together, we’re hosting a big concert to celebrate and honor the
music and the life of the late great South African singer Miriam Makeba or “Mama Africa” as she’s often called.

Her songs and voice have been etched in mind and in my soul since I was a little boy. She has been an inspiration to us all, both as a musician and as a social activist. Thank you, Mama Africa.

-Vusi Mahlasela

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from Dave Matthews.

The first time I heard Abdullah Ibrahim I was in my late teens or early twenties. It stopped my heart. The nearest thing I heard to it was on some of Keith Jarrett’s solo work and upon hearing Ibrahim I was sure that Jarrett had studied him extensively. The first recording I heard was “African piano” and Ibrahim was aka “dollar brand”. You can hear the crowd loudly talking but it remains one of my favorite albums.

He has many recordings now. Two more that I have purchased again and again so I might pass them on are “Water From an Ancient Well” and “African Dawn”.

Learn more about Abdullah Ibrahim here.

-Dave Matthews

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from Vusi Mahlasela.

I wanted to introduce you all to one of my favorite young bands hailing from South Africa. They picked up four SAMA (South African Music Awards) this year, including Album of the Year. They’ve been busy touring all over the world sharing their vibrant and fun sound.

Listen online at www.freshlyground.com.

-Vusi Mahlasela

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from Peter Griesar.

As an American teenager in the 1980’s the issue of apartheid loomed large, and related themes found their way from the news into the popular music and arts of the time. But I didn’t really begin to understand it until I saw Blood Knot by South African playwright Athol Fugard in 1986.

Fugard had opened the 2 man show in 1961 Johannesburg – but only once. Soon afterward the anti-apartheid call caused many artists, including Fugard, to boycott working in their home country.

In retrospect it is hard to believe 25 years of apartheid passed between the play’s debut and the revival I saw in 1986. But then, and still now, Fugard’s work holds up. And it is a stark reminder to those of us who fight for justice that change comes, but slowly.

-Peter Griesar

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from South African singer-songwriter Vusi Mahlasela

Many of you may already know her work but for those of you who don’t, I’d like to introduce to one of South Africa’s finest writers of our time Nadine Gordimer. The Nobel laureate, perpetual activist and prolific writer is a national treasure and I hope you’ll read some of her amazing novels including two of my favorites: July’s People and A Guest of Honour. As a young activist myself growing up in South Africa during the time of Apartheid, Nadine inspired me to follow my dream through my own writing and music.

-Vusi Mahlasela

ONE is turning to its community of artists, friends, members and staff for their top picks on creative works that have enhanced their knowledge and understanding of the richness of African culture and arts. Today we have a recommendation from South African singer-songwriter Vusi Mahlesela

In honor of Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday, ANSA (Artists for a New South Africa) has released a great audio book of Madiba’s favorite African Folk Tales. I was honored to lend some vocals on the project and it was fun to hear all the great stories as storytelling is so integral in preserving all of our cultures and history. Happy Birthday, Madiba!

You can learn more here: http://mandelasfavoritefolktales.com/

-Vusi Mahlesela