Salif Keita is one of the grand voices of our time. He is a Malian, descended from the royal family of Mali, but ostracized at an early age because of his albinism. Being an albino is considered bad luck in much of western Africa, even more so, albinos are in real danger of being killed for their "magic".
He was born in 1949 and started performing in 1973. He moved to Europe in the early 80's and has been writing, singing and composing songs ever since. He is a grand composer and unique virtuoso instrumentalist, but his voice is a gift to humanity.
Keita's latest album, La Différence, was produced around the year end of 2009. The work is dedicated to the struggle of the world albino community(victims of human sacrifice), for which Keita has been crusading all his life. In one of the album's tracks, the singer calls others to understand that "difference" does not mean "bad" and to show love and compassion towards albinos like everyone else:"I am black/ my skin is white/ so I am white and my blood is black [albino]/... I love that because it is a difference that's beautiful..", "some of us are beautiful some are not/some are black some are white/all that difference was on purpose.. for us to complete each other/let everyone gets his love and dignity/the world will be beautiful."
2 comments:
He has an intriguingly haunting voice that may be a result of his 'magical powers' of albinism.
It's hard to imagine that albinism is still considered of the Devil here in the 21st century.
That's Mali, and it doesn't surprise me.
But why should it come as a surprise when we see the beliefs that fundamentalist Christians hold and try and force on others? Why should other civilisations be any different?
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