USA Africa Dialogue Series - BANNED MUSIC--a mini series, No. 1

I want to introduce a new series that I will begin for two weeks, just as the Ramadan that will take me 30 days. Let me start with an introduction:

Music is perhaps the most powerful artistic medium because, unlike other forms of art, it does not just enable an audience to gaze upon an artist's message from the outside; rather, it allows for an audience to actually participate with the artist and to actually feel their emotion – through vibration, melody, and rhythm – and also, in many cases, through dance and bodily movement. Music is also unlike other art forms because it is often experienced communally. Indeed, there are many instances in which music has joined individuals across families, identities, neighborhoods, and cultures. But what happens if a particular song – a form of language, story, and communication – that has resonated with hundreds to even millions of people is declared illegal?

            It is a common phenomenon across the African continent for governments (or other influential power systems) to ban music that they deem "dangerous" in some way. This censoring has occurred since African countries have gained independence. There are usually two reasons that African powerful bodies censor, and they are both related to the desire to control the minds and rhetoric of the people. First, those in power may censor songs with political messages because of a fear of unwanted governmental criticism that could incite insurrection. Second, those in power may find certain songs with sexual messages threatening in the sense that they could damage the moral fabric of society (or rather, a moral fabric that they have constructed and wish to perpetuate indefinitely).

            Of course, the censoring of music by authority figures is controversial because it is related to the suppression of free speech and the oppression of those without power. If African countries are to continue to strive for democracy, it is essential that they encourage and uphold forms of speech that allow for criticism of the government and for exploration of identity (which often can be through sexual language). 

Stay awake!