This has been a week to be proud of #hiphop.
Hip Hop culture gets a lot of flack for negatively influencing the youth, promoting harmful brands, alcohol and drugs and objectifying women. The truth is that hip hop is what inspired us all to make a bad situation better, and help as many people ecape that reality. Hip Hop begun as protest art in South Africa and has been a bridge to different countries throughout Africa.
For Senegalese artist Akon, Hip Hop took him from a dusty open veld on the continent to bright lights and camera time in the United States. Akon has always been an inspiration to Africans – but his latest move is deserving of extraordinary praise.
“Mr. Lonely” has teamed up with African entrepeneurs to launch a solar academy in Mali. This will be a place where Africans are taught how to harness the power of the sun in a bid to give electricity to 600 million people living in the dark every night.
Below is a short video report on the initiative;
It’s also worth noting that Akon’s initiative has received the backing of prominent Hip Hop artists such as Busta Rhymes and Talib Kweli.
Well done and thank you very much Akon!
GRASSROOTS 