Black Star Power
After tuning into Jennifer Holiday's belted bid for recognition and relevancy, Gnarls Barkley's improbable win, Diddy's egregious lip-synching, Patti's alchemy, Chris Brown's awesomely early eighties Cazal-accessorized ensemble,
Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars is a well-traveled documentary that I initially eschewed because I thought it had something to do with Wyclef. My friend Consuelo cleared that confusion up last summer after calling me enthusiastically from a Seattle screening and encouraging me to see the film and the band ASAP. Still, despite several opportunities, I didn't watch the film until its television debut last night as part of PBS's P.O.V. series and I was moved. I cried a lot especially at the challenges surmounted by band member Mohammed Bangura Medo' (pictured at right below) who temporarily escaped the nightmare of his torture at the hands of rebels-amputation, murder of family members, being forced to kill his own infant daughter--through his performances with the band. Led by Reuben M. Koroma, Mohammed and other select residents of the UNHCR Sembakounya Refugee Camp in Benin, entertained their fellow refugees and made themselves a makeshift world unyielding to the traumas of war. Not that they are unwavered: Mohammed, in particular, has a difficult time, the details are for you to learn when the movie and/or the band comes your way. Having recorded an album, Living Like a Refugee, during the course of the film, the Refugee All-Stars have been touring and have a bunch of international dates planned for this summer and fall. Check the film's Web site for future screenings of the film and for future live performances. I'll be checking them out in Brooklyn's Prospect Park this August.
For more information on the Sierra Leonian conflict check this old BBC special report.
Posted on June 27, 2007 1:08 PM
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