When African and European leaders fall silent, BANTU lifts up their voices in order to speak for those whose bodies cannot speak anymore. In ‘Water cemetery‘ the Nigerian collective tackles the silence about the mass drowning in the Mediterranean Sea: ‘Where’s the outrage who we holding accountable?/ Are we all numb cause of daily survival?/ Why the images don’t touch us no more?” BANTU also points to the widespread human rights abuses that migrants encounter on their way: “Brothers and sisters tortured and raped/ Sold and resold as modern-day slaves/ Organ harvesters and human traffickers/ Making their gains from the pains of Africans“. The torture and cases of human trafficking in war torn Libya has been well documented and is widely known (HRW).
“Plenty, plenty body for open sea
Mediterranean na cemetery
Yeah o Africa future dey die o“
The track highlights a perspective that is often forgotten in these discussions. The pain of those families that loose their beloved ones after having failed to cross the Mediterranean Sea:
“How do you grieve when you never saw a body?
How do you say goodbye when the grave is empty?
How do you find closure and ever move on,
When your heart keeps hoping from dusk till dawn?”
The lyrics serve as a list of critical and important questions, the leaders of many African and European nations should be confronted with at press conferences. ‘Water cemetery‘ is just one track from BANTU’s new longplayer ‘Every got Agenda‘ that combines 10 brilliant politically conscious tracks, e.g. ‘Disrupt the Program‘.
jusi I love 