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Emmanuel Jal: A Child Of War, a Voice of Peace
Emmanuel Jal's story of growing up in the Sudanese civil war is the subject of the documentary "War Child."
(From Www.myspace.com/emmanueljal)
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When his songs played, "people would sit down around their radios and listen," he says. "Relatives looked for one another, then for my father and sisters to share the news. My music connected them. This took away some of my pain." He found his family -- his father, his grandmother, his sisters.
"But to discover that one of my sisters . . . is a sex slave to a warlord who beats her until she starts bleeding . . . I saw her but I could not help her. She is trapped there with five children. That really hurt," he says.
His younger sister, 18, who was raped three times, got to know of her brother over the BBC. She was finally rescued when friends smuggled her out to Kenya. All these stories Jal incorporated in his music.
Now I cry myself to sleep
In my dreams I often weep
My children are hungry
And my back in pain
And yet they come to rape again
-- Emmanuel Jal, "Vagina"
"I didn't enjoy my childhood, I lost it," says Jal. "I don't ever want a child to go through this. I feel I owe them something."
He founded a nonprofit, Gua Africa, in London, dedicated to educating children affected by war and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, mainly former child soldiers. "We have 16 registered in schools," he says. "I am supporting six and some friends in the U.S. are helping. People log on to my Web site, Gua [ http:/
"My music is for the children of slaves, who sang the music of pain. People heard their cry and listened. I have put my struggle in the music so the music will reach you."
Pimps and thieves in Italian-cut suits
Stop raping Africa like she's your prostitute
To mister oil, diamond and gold miner
Stop treating mama Africa like a vagina
She's not your whore, anymore
You take the riches, and you leave her people poor
-- Emmanuel Jal, "Vagina"
A dispute with Jal's first recording company led to a bitter falling out with Moszynski, who had helped promote Jal and introduced him to people in the music industry. Moszynski, more than any of McCune's other friends, had taken Jal into his home and treated him like a son. But Jal, who was dissatisfied with the record deal, hired lawyers to get him out of the contract. They wrote letters to Moszynski accusing him of exploitation and "slavery." The tactic worked -- the record company released Jal -- but left Moszynski seething with hurt and rage, according to friends.
"He never informed me of what I was entering to, but I care about this man," Jal says. "He stood with me when Emma died. He is always in my heart. I hope we can reconcile, but now I am on my feet and I want to help others.
"I have 40 acres of land; my desire is to build a school in Ler for child soldiers. We need schools to be opened everywhere, to open eyes and widen their brains. Most of them just know how to shoot."
I'm a war child
I'm a war child . . .
I believe I've survived for a reason
To tell my story, to touch lives
-- Emmanuel Jal, "War Child"
