‘We say something that [other refugees] would have said, but they have no opportunity’ — Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars
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Eric Harvie Theatre
Saturday, March 1 - Saturday, March 1
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As the music industry becomes increasingly preoccupied with fabricating or exaggerating the street cred of its stars, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars make a case for the value of humility. Formed by musicians displaced from their homes to camps in Guinea during the Sierra Leone civil war, the group has lived through strife that would give pause to the baddest rapper, and poverty that would shame any “shabby-chic” hipster. Having earned worldwide recognition as the subject of a documentary film bearing their name, the All-Stars continue to preach their message of peace, hope and love to audiences. Although the war in their homeland has come to an end, their work is far from over.
“Right now, I’m trying to think about how to maintain the peace,” says bandleader Reuben Koroma. “I’m trying to write songs that talk about loving one another and trying to maintain the peace, because it is precious. When I started singing, it was just a therapy for me, a treatment so that I would be able to forget what happened to me, but I also saw that people developed interest in listening to my songs. They gathered around me and I sensed that this could be something valuable to them.”
This suspicion was confirmed when local non-governmental organizations provided the band with rudimentary gear including guitars, microphones, an amplifier and a generator. Local UN officials quickly seized upon the act as an opportunity to attract camp residents to a central location to achieve consultation and deliver news from home. As the civil war wound down, the All-Stars were bused from camp to camp to bring their pastiche of reggae, hip hop and traditional African music to other refugees. Falling back on the arts in times of great strife is by no means a new concept for humanity, but this crew was unusually successful in spreading their message.
“The idea behind our process is that we try to air out the grievances of the people,” he explains. “There are many things people want to say, but they have no chance, so we just took all these grievances and started writing songs about them. When we played them, you could see that everyone is happy because we have spoken for them. They are all very happy and they like us because we say something that they would have said but they have no opportunity to. So they feel good about us.”
The peace brokered between warring factions in Sierra Leone, seen as one of the greatest accomplishments in 21st century diplomacy thus far, relied heavily on sincere discussions between victims and aggressors in the conflict. A recent election empowered a progressive leader whose goals include bringing electricity to areas that have lived in darkness for two decades, and much progress has been made in rebuilding efforts. While Koroma is optimistic that the peace will last, because of the difficult lessons learned during the war, he remains conscious of the plights of other displaced peoples throughout the world.
“I would surely tell them that all is not lost,” he replies, when asked what message he would send to today’s refugees. “All is not lost. Whatever conditions they find themselves in, they should not relent. They should have a focus, and they should keep working very hard, because, chances are, things can change. We have lived as refugees, and we were able to overcome the obstacles and kept on doing something that has changed our lives.”
