Juliani to Host Concert 'To Fight Inequality in Kenya'
23 January 2020
Hip hop artiste Juliani in partnership with The Kenya Fight Inequality Alliance will host a concert at Railways Club, Nairobi county this Saturday 25 January to raise awareness of inequality in the country.
Dubbed the “Usawa Festival’, the concert will bring together music, art and cultural activities, graffiti artistes and a photo exhibition. It is designed to model a community that provides resources and services for people, so the greater equality being demanded by Kenyans is experienced in practice.
According to the artiste this initiative will provide an opportunity for people to express the inequalities they face through art, music and poetry.
“We are encouraging Kenyans to turn up in large numbers and support the concert. We have lots of inequality issues taking place in the country – lack of public services, regressive tax policies, gender-based violence, extra judicial killings, people living with disabilities amongst others and this is great new platform to share some of our concerns through music,” noted Juliani.
“The festival is hosted by community organisations who are working to bridge the gap of various inequities in their communities as well as mobilize to hold our leaders to account,” concluded Juliani.
Antonia Musunga, the Kenya FIA Coordinator agreed with Juliani, saying: ‘The time for those who are most affected by inequality to come together and demand for better has come. It can no longer be business as usual when our humanity is being disregarded by the elite. The festival presents an opportunity for all of us to have a space for dialogue and reimagine justice in our life time.’’
Other artistes that will grace the occasion include the following Javan the poet, Masafa Arts, Mizizi Afriqa, Wasanii Sanaa, Voice of Dago, Young at Haart, Leko Kids, Jonte and Madigolo and Amani Sela. Other activities that will be there include; Legal aid, blood donation drive, medical camp and children’s fun zone.
This is the third annual Usawa festival with the previous held in Dandora, Nairobi County.
The Usawa Festival in Kenya closes the protests that have taken place in 30 countries this past week from 18-25 Janury, including the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Zambia, Kenya, India, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, South Africa, Mexico and Uganda, as part of the Global Protest to #FightInequality. The actions coincided with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where billionaires gather with the aim of ‘improving the state of the world’. The protest is a counterpoint to Davos WEF’s ‘hypocrisy’ and saw diverse movements joining together against the root causes of inequality and to call for systemic change. The solutions are coming from the protests around the world, not Davos, say activists.
The Fight Inequality Alliance is a group of leading international and national non-profit organisations, human rights campaigners, women’s rights groups, environmental groups, faithbased organisations, trade unions, social movements, artists, activists and other civil society organisations that have come together to fight the growing crisis of inequality.
Event details: 11am-6pm, The Railways Grounds, Nairobi. Entry is free.
Interview opportunities:
Juliani and Antonia Musunga, National Coordinator, Kenya Fight Inequality Alliance will be available for interviews at the event.
Njoki Njehu, Pan Africa Coordinator for Fight Inequality Alliance will also be available for interview. Ms Njehu will be in Nairobi at the event coming directly from her attendance at the WEF in Davos, where she has been delivering the message to the elites gathered there that it is time to abolish billionaires.
Media contact:
Antonia Musunga, National Coordinator, Kenya Fight Inequality Alliance
antoniamusunga@gmail.com | 0720061742
For international media enquiries, including photos, video and/or interview request, contact:
media@fightinequality.org | +63 949 889 1332