![]() It seems that all too easily Fela could have allowed Western indoctrination of culture and values to define him, his African roots becoming secondary, but Fela embraced his blessings in a completely different manner. ![]() ![]() Fela Kuti was born into a certain echelon of Nigerian society, his highly educated parents giving him the opportunity to learn and travel from a young age. Through Fela, I’ve found a humbler perspective of what I call “my own” music and a much deeper respect for the music of other cultures. My experiences and education in London have helped to open my eyes to this struggle and to understand the extent of my privilege. We can casually credit black people for birthing jazz, blues and rock and roll, but rarely do we stop to think about a wider context in terms of cultural appropriation or current systematic racism. I was raised in Santa Cruz, California in the '90s and though a predominantly very liberal, hippy-dippy sort of place, African-Americans were largely unrepresented in my community and African history and culture was strikingly absent from my education.
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