Two of America’s great singers and songwriters Raheem Devaughn and Wes Felton have thrown their weight behind the fight against racial division, oppression on blacks from the west, and the unity of blacks in the diaspora, by visiting Africa and using their music as a tool.
The duo who are known as “The Crossrhodes” are currently in Ghana as part of a “back to Africa” movement which coincidentally tallies with the ‘year of return’ celebration.
Speaking to KOD and Cookie on the Starr Drive they hinted that they would be performing at various venues as part of the movement which is being organized by a pan-Africanist organization.
Wes said “we are here as art of a special back to Africa movement. Especially this year being the year of return he [the organizer] reached out to me and Raheem Devaughn who in our own right globally, as well as in the united states, have pretty good careers as artistes and I think all around he thought it would be a great look not just for Ghana but a great look for us as African-American artistes, to make sure we bridge that gap.”
He noted “this is not a glamorous trip that we are on. Most artistes from our country wont even take the time or day to go into schools, actual communities where there are people who in their lifetime have never experienced someone who played piano, or experience a DJ or a singer or rapper. And it’s very easy for our egos and for the glamour and glitz of what this art stuff is. But really our people and our introduction by way of Africans to America, the music was used as a tool, as a weapon for change and communication, so we are continuing that legacy.”
He added “so often our cultures influence each-other separately and we kind of appropriate from each other but we can actually make it more appropriate if we actually doing those things together. Often as African-Americans and Africans, I think we often settle for the narratives that have been forced on us. I think that well have the great opportunity to really show the people here in Ghana what happens when the influence that’s in our DNA meets up with the science and technology of our environment.”
Raheem said “the plight of the black man and black woman is a global universal struggle simultaneously and one of the beautiful things about coming home and coming to Ghana, going to different territories on this continent is that when I’m going to transfer my U.S money, there is a black man on the money, and that makes me want to cash it all in and move here.”
He added “the music that we make is special because we represent independence, freedom, civil right, liberation, revolution, rebelling against the negative system that continues to try to hold us back.”
He noted “there’s a lot of things we have to tackle, we don’t have to remain here but we have to give the real about what’s happening and that’s what I talk about in my music. I’ve expanded to now doing a lot of community work, a lot of humanitarian work which is starting to expand abroad as well.”
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Senanu Damilola Wemakor
