On June 14, 2018, the Nairobi Center hosted a forum for Tanzanian artists to speak out about their music, community service projects, advocacy work and the future of Tanzania's development.
Convening the event in Dar es Salaam, Trevor Arnett of the Columbia Global Centers in New York City said that the forum has been named beyond the music and is a platform to discuss global issues and see how social influencers, including artists, can play a role in finding solutions to world problems.
Trevor said that there are many amazing examples of music being used around the world as a tool for learning and social change as well as building movements. Still, few artists are actually taking advantage of the prodigious influence they have. "Beyond the Music" is a discussion series moderated by a community activist that dive into deep conversations with artists who believe in the power of advocacy and activism in music.
Providing the welcome address and opening remarks, Professor Yogi Trivedi of Columbia University's Journalism School said "It is important for artists to understand that they have a power to drive community-related projects. It is just a matter for them to understand that and use the influence they have," adding that the role of artists is not just to entertain but there is more than that.
Webiro Wassira, popularly known as Wakazi, said that he was proud to attend such a forum aimed at transforming the industry of music in the country, something which many artists have been looking for.
'I must appreciate the Columbia Global Centers for inviting us to this forum to come and speak about what we can do to our country. I believe if we join our hands together we can take this country to the next step,' Wakazi said.
Citing one of the community projects which has been undertaking, Wakazi said he participated in tree planting project in Kilimanjaro region which was aimed at reducing cutting down of trees and the project was very successful. The project was called Kili Tree planting project. "I was tasked to be the influencer and to help the community understand the current weather changes. I call the government and other organizations to understand that we artists can use our fanbases to add a major boost to projects within our community," he added.
Other artists who took part at the forum included Rosa Ree, Malaika, Frida Amani, and Izzo Bizness.
Special thank you to our co-sponsors at ICAP with the Mailman School of Public Health.
Click here to view the event photos
