Emmanuel Jal: The music of a Sudanese child soldier

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: When I first came across Emmanuel Jal's work and music online in 2009 I posted his music video 'War Child' here at Sudan Watch. I've been a fan ever since and enjoy following his progress.

As there's not much hard news coming out of Sudan and South Sudan, I don't want to focus on war and publicise biased reports, most of it is propaganda, spin, activism, AI or hearsay posted by ill informed commentators.

So, to focus on peace, this post is the first in a series about Emmanuel's life and work as a musician, peace activist, educationalist, entrepreneur and a great ambassador for his country. He's a good story teller. His life is his art.

Although there is earlier news and footage of Emmanuel and much more to choose from over the past fourteen years, I've selected this 2008 TEDTalks video 'Emmanuel Jal: The music of a war child' as an introduction.

Emmanuel was born in southern Sudan (now South Sudan) during a horrific civil war costing two million lives that led to independence. He travels and works very hard, non-stop. It's a pleasure chronicling his rise to global fame.

Description of TEDTalks by Emmanuel Jal posted at YouTube 7 Aug 2009:

http://www.ted.com 

For five years, young Emmanuel Jal fought as a child soldier in the Sudan. Rescued by an aid worker, he's become an international hip-hop star and an activist for kids in war zones. In words and lyrics, he tells the story of his amazing life.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate.

View original: https://youtu.be/nF_dHdNOgSA

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