Angélique Kidjo on Spirit Rising and speaking for oneself
Singer-songwriter and African activist Angélique Kidjo on her new memoir and longtime quest to raise respect for her continent.
Hear the uncut version of Jian's conversation with Angélique Kidjo by continuing to the bottom of the post.
Jian speaks with Beninoise singer-songwriter and activist Angélique Kidjo about her recent memoir Spirit Rising: My Life, My Music, her latest album Eve, and her quest to raise global awareness of and respect for her continent.
The Grammy Award-winning artist shares the importance of claiming her own story, from her rise to fame to her extensive humanitarian work, and stresses that the "whole purpose" of her work is to share a new story about Africa as a place of modernity and wealth.
"We have lots of problems, but we have so much joy, so much happiness," she says. "Stop patronizing us in Africa. Stop seeing us as animals in the zoo. We are human beings. We have a brain. We can speak for ourselves."
Extended audio below:
