Suntou Susso – The Multi-talented Musician

By Pa Modou Faal

Suntou Susso is a famous traditional Kora player who applies his traditional skills in the arts to capture the attention of his followers while entertaining them to the maximum. Suntou’s musical background draws back to an ancestral lineage of the well-known Gambian Mandinka griot family which is renowned for entertaining people during prestigious ceremonies. Kora is a traditional Mandinka instrument which prides its roots from the different empires of West Africa - Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. The Kora is a 21-string instrument made up of cords, cow skin, mahogany log, and some other metal rings. Touring his debut album Kanefonyo (Never give up), Suntou blended the scintillating traditional Kora tunes and Mandinka lyrics with the westernised soul and Afrofunk music to fit a wider audience. At the Metronome in Nottingham on June 9th, the son of the famous griot and Kora player Mamadou Susso, held his fans to their feet the whole evening. The multi-talented song writer, composer and instrumentalist Suntou Susso, displayed his skills in playing the Kora Instrument with style, humour, glamour, and vigour. He displayed to the audience his skills in the “Jembeh” percussion with danceable bits all night. Music and Kora are in the DNA of the Susso family which was demonstrated when Suntou was joined by his brother and sister on stage. This was not expected by the agile crowd but a performance that was one of masterclass. His family is gifted with talent, voice, and humour. His sister’s reverberating voice rekindled the audience’s dance appetite, and everyone rose to their feet. In a solemn yet emotional praise and acknowledge of support, Suntou introduced his brother whom he said is his role model in the musical industry, Saikou Keita. Saikou is an international artist who tours the world and has released many albums international. He was emotional and excited but did not shy from entertaining the audience. The multi-talented family put up a highly respectable performance leaving everyone happily entertained. The humble and charismatic Suntou stayed at the end of his performance to sign autographs for his fans and took the opportunity to promote his album. It was a night of traditional yet fulfilling entertainment as well as manifestation of strong family bond.

AFRICA LIBERATION DAY 2022

By Linda Tsungirirai Masarira

Theme: Preparing For a Leap Forward To World-Wide Pan-African Unity, Neo-Colonialism Must Be Dismantled!

“Today, African Liberation Day (ALD) is a permanent mass institution in the world-wide Pan-African movement. As an institution, it is stronger today because the masses of African people are stronger, and ALD is their day. As a day of work in the area of political education and organization, it reflects the fact that we have not obtained our freedom, and thus it is a day to reaffirm our commitment to Pan-Africanism, the total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism. At ALD we also deepen our understanding of other just struggles and affirm our role in the world socialist.” … ALD https://

africanliberationday.net/about/ Lead on Africa Day

By Linda Tsungirirai Masarira President, Labour Economists and African Democrats (LEAD) This morning, I celebrate Africa Day with all Africans. I wish we could give this day more reverence as African people as we do to some holidays like Christmas and Easter. We are all Africans first before we belong to any nationality thus the importance of recognizing our Africanness first. We are at a stage in time where Africa is under siege, yet millions of us are not paying attention. The recolonization of Africa agenda is now on full throttle yet some of us still choose to side with the neocolonialism. Wake up Africa and save your continent. The contentious question would be, how do we build the Africa we want, when we have the majority of the African populace ignorant of their culture and heritage. Our people have no self-determination and still have a deep-seated colonial mentality. As the continent of Africa gathers today in celebration of our blackness and African heritage, Labour Economists and African Democrats (LEAD) cries out over the complete vilification and downgrading of the African people by the ruthless white supremacy racists and Islamic terrorists. Over the past 59 years Africa focused on the decolonization agenda, the struggle against apartheid and attainment of political independence for the continent. On the occasion of The Golden Jubilee headed by the African Union (AU) the continent re-dedicated herself to the attainment of the Pan African Vision. It is in light of this that the Agenda 2063 was founded under the Pan Africanist guidelines. Fifty years after the first thirtythree (33) independent African states took a landmark decision to form the Organization of African Unity, we are looking ahead towards the next fifty years. This is the most painful thing that Labour Economists And African Democrats (LEAD) finds nothing to celebrate. The idea is good, but the implementation worries as it proves lack of seriousness and the willingness to perform. I urge my fellow African leaders from both ruling and opposition parties to stop being mere planners but rather start implementing the unity Agenda for the purpose of improving Africa. History demonstrated through the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland that unity is productive than anything else. The hallmark of foolishness is not merely the production of failed results but not learning anything from previous mistakes. Kwame Nkrumah in a speech to the Ghanaian National Assembly made his views loud and clear when he said, “This new Africa of ours is emerging into a world of great combinations – a world where the weak and the small are pushed aside unless they unite their forces” (Webster Boahen and Tidy, 1967:383). We must unite for economic viability, first of all, and then to recover our mineral wealth in Southern Africa, so that our vast resources and capacity for development will bring prosperity for us and additional benefits for the rest of the world. The war against exploitation and destruction of Africa was the pre-eminent in Nkrumah’s speeches and writings. He lamented about the division between African leaders and saw failure in division and success in unity for all African states and people. This clarion call for unity against imperialist and neo-colonialist interests fell on deaf ears and today, the IMF, EU, China, the United States of America and multinational corporations, are wreaking havoc in Africa, without any regard for the peoples’ well-being. Neo-colonialism is a monster that must be resisted if Africa is to make strides in its efforts to overcome its socio-cultural, economic, and political predicaments. Many African leaders still strongly believe that the problems of Africa can solely be solved from outside Africa as epitomized by their reliance on former colonial masters thereby proving that they do not have an independent mind of their own. As LEAD, we believe it’s high time that Africa seeks to harmonize her resources to move from being labelled as Third World. To read

more: www.africansrising.org/lead-on-africa-day/