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But that's not the only reason I'm doing it. I have been
passionate about Tanzania since I volunteered there as an
undergraduate in 2007.1 returned in 2009 to study interna
tional development and to work for Kiva.org, the world's larg
est pe'rson-to-person microlending website. In the six months
I lived in Tanzania, I grew to love and admire the culture even
more as I learned about their peaceful struggle for indepen
dence and the inspiring leadership of Julius K. Nyerere.
Nyerere, the first president of an independent Tanzania,
founded Radio Tanzania Dar-es-Salaam to serve as the primary
instrument for promoting the policy of Ujamaa na Kujitegemea:
"Socialism and Self-Reliance." He argued: "Of all the crimes
of colonialism, there is none worse than the attempt to make
us believe we had no indigenous culture of our own." Nyerere
realized that fostering Tanzanian culture, music and art was
vital to the nascent nation's success in the aftermath of colo
nial oppression. He mandated the production of music that
confronted social issues such as poverty, literacy and public
health.
Nyerere also used the station to undermine colonialism
and neo-capitalism around Africa by relaying broadcasts from
various African revolutionary groups. Radio Tanzania sup
ported independence struggles against white-supremacist rule
in South Africa, Southwest Africa and Rhodesia, and against
Portuguese and French colonial rule in Mozambique, Angola
and the Comoros. Today we need only look to Zuccotti Park and
the hundreds of Occupy movements around the globe to see
a worldwide questioning of capitalist corporatism underway.
Radio Tanzania tells the story of one nation's attempt to resist
neo-colonial capitalism—and that story contains valuable les
sons for today.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that
these archives helped save my life. Almost two years ago I was
in a head-on collision with a taxi while riding my motorbike in
■' r;>i;
V a dimly lit back room of Tanzania's radio head-
quarters, there is a forgotten trove of FM-radio
Jh m Sz gold stored on deteriorating analog tape.
Thousands of hours of Swahili muziki wa dansi (dance music),
Afro-jazz and rhumba, Arabic toorab (Swahili sung poetry)
and indigenous ngoma drumming sit idle, only a relic of the
country's post-independence history and musical past. Almost
two years ago, while living in Tanzania, I decided I wanted to
u ns helve the Radio Tanzania Dar-es-Sataam reel-to-reels, to
digitize them and save them for posterity's sake. Now, with a
handful of Tanzanians and Americans, we're ready to revive the
Radio Tanzania archives.
So why, one might ask, have we committed ourselves to the
daunting task of digitizing more than 100,000 hours of for
eign music on the other side of the world? The basic reason is
simple: these archives are an incredible cultural and historical
treasure. All of the music recorded in Tanzania from the early
'60s through the mid '80s is on those tapes. They are of great
value, and they are in grave danger. This alone would be reason
enough to digitize and promote them.
Tanzania. I Drone au or tne cones in my ngnt leg ana a couple
of ribs, and nearly died. It took five surgeries to repair my
bones. I also underwent months of IV antibiotics and hyper
baric treatments to fight an infection, not to mention almost
a year of physical therapy to learn to walk again. During those
long months of recovery, researching and planning for this
project kept me focused and motivated to heal In Swahili cul
ture, people live by the Bantu humanist ethic Ubuatu. It trans
lates roughly to "I am because we are." I am alive today—and
I'm the person I am today—because of Ubuntu. I owe my eter
nal gratitude to the Tanzanians who saved my life the night of
the accident helped nurse me back to health and remained my
steadfast friends through long stretches of darkness. My efforts
with Radio Tanzania are the best token of thanks I can offer in
return.
Speaking of community, it's important to note that beyond
my own involvement Athens has played a large role in the
Radio Tanzania project Tyler Webb, Nina Carter and David Fu,
three UGA graduates (two of whom are also native Athenians)
are in India, Austin, TX and New York City, respectively, work
ing on the Radio Tanzania team. We've also
made plans to collaborate with Athens musicians
Adam Klein, Carl Lindberg and Kai RiedL Athens
has a great reputation for its support of music,
the arts and social justice—and the Radio
Tanzania team demonstrates that the reputation
is well-deserved.
Now, we are raising money for the digitization
of the archives via Kkkstarter.com, the online
crowd-funding platform that's revolutionized the
bankrolling of creative projects. We haVe set our
fundraising goal at $13,000: the cost of basic
digitization equipment and projected legal and
royalty fees to get the project running. We're
more than halfway to our goal, but we need help
to make it to $13,000 by Feb. 3. If we don't
raise this amount or more by that date, then we
won't get anything. The Tanzanian proverb goes,
*Haba na haba, hujaza kibaba," which means
"Little by little fills the measure." Every bit
counts, and our Kkkstarter campaign empowers individuals to
participate in the important work of cultural preservation.
To sweeten the deal, we're offering some great rewards.
For example, a $25 pledge gets you three digital downloads of
songs from the archives and a CD with a sampling of the Radio
Tanzania music. For $100, you can get a t-shirt with our logo
and the "best-of" compilation CO. Also, for each donation of
$100 or more, we are releasing another song from the archives
onto our website, www.tanzaniaheritageproject.org/listen.
Bertholt Brecht said, "Art is not a mirror held up to reality,
but a hammer with which to shape it." With your help, the
music of the Radio Tanzania archives can continue to shape the
world. If this project is a success, it will send a powerful mes
sage about one nation's ability to throw off colonialism peace
fully and to maintain that peace through music and culture. It
will also provide a blueprint for cultural preservation today by
developing a workshop that will train Tanzanians in digitiza
tion and give profits from music sales back to the community
and musical artists. Finally, it will create dialogue between
people and across cultures, as individuals from many nations
invest in the musical heritage of one.
The narrative about Africa in the popular media is usually
one of poverty, disease and helplessness. Radio Tanzania is
about social enterprise, solutions and hope. Please join us. and
help to save and share this music before it is too late.
Rebecca Corey
To support the Radio Tanzania digitization project please visit www.
kickstarter.com and search "Radio Tanzania." Yen can learn more about
the project there or www.tanzaniaheritageprojectorg, where you can also
read blog updates. Donations can be made via PayPal, and the project is
on Facebook and Twitter (©RadioTanzania). Rebecca Corey’s blog, World
Without Strangers, is at rebeccacorey.wordpress.com.
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