When the concept of the charioke marathon first swept over us, we were originally desperate to do it during Refugee Week. Not just because we had a masochistic urge to raise our stress levels even higher with yet another event to organise, but because ‘sharing a song’ is one of the Simple Acts being promoted as part of Refugee Week’s latest campaign.
The Simple Acts campaign is about inspiring individuals to use small, everyday actions to change perceptions of refugees.
It consists of 20 actions that can be done by anyone and that encourage us to learn and do more with refugees. With every person who joins in on the idea and does a small thing with and for refugees, we get a little closer to removing barriers between communities and to creating the kind of world we all want to live in. One people, one love. We’re hoping to see thousands of people doing at least one small action by July 2010.
The ‘sharing a song’ action is all about harnessing the feel-good factor of exercising your vocal chords and learning about someone else’s culture through song. Music for Change, Sing Up and Sing London are all organisations that are dedicated to making this happen on a daily basis: they are everyday ambassadors for the power of song.
At the London leg of the Charioke Marathon, we’ll all be doing this Simple Act of sharing a song with a refugee, as Refugee Action’s very own Nicaise Koffi will be coming down from Liverpool to lead us all in a group warm-up.
Nicaise fled from his home country in West Africa when the government banned his single El Mutino (The Mutiny), which he and his band had written in response to the political situation at the time. When his music producer was murdered for his involvement in the single, Nicaise left the Ivory Coast for England. As an asylum seeker innocent of any crime, he was kept in places such as Harmondsworth Detention Centre, and Brixton Prison, because they did not have the space in Oakington Detention Centre.
Interviewed for the Liverpool Echo, Nicaise said, “When you come, you feel safe at first because they won’t be killing you. But when you are running away from prison in your own country and they put you in prison in the safe place, it’s funny. But as English people say: good comes in the end. The authorities had to make sure my asylum seeking was genuine, despite the fact that I had press clippings and searches on the internet that showed that I was a target of the government.”
Nicaise has volunteered with Refugee Action for many years and is now working with us as a volunteer and mentoring coordinator. He has a Liverpool-based band, Zouglou Zone, which unites people from different backgrounds and whose music is based on strong beats and African bongos, and he will also be releasing a new single this year.
He said, “If there would be a democratic government in the Ivory Coast and it would be safe, I would go back and visit, though my life is here now. I have my family here. Here I have the opportunity to have my life as a musician, as a man, and as a human being.”
If you fancy doing this Simple Act from home, you don’t have to miss out on the mic-on-mic action. Even if you’re not lucky enough to have Nicaise on hand to lead you in song, you can always have a singsong at home to some artists with refugee heritage and share their music with your mates.
Wyclef Jean, M.I.A, Gloria Estefan, Bob Marley, K’naan, Mika, and Emmanuel Jal are all refugees or descendants of refugees. And as Olivia Newton John’s grandpops was a refugee, so you’ve even got an excuse to rinse out the Grease soundtrack again…
Tags: charioke, charioke fundraiser, charioke marathon, fundraiser, karaoke, Music for Change, refugee musicians, Refugee Week, Simple Acts campaign, Sing London, Sing Up
Posted by Esme Peach