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As a young girl in Benin, Kidjo was shocked when she learned about slavery. Then, at age 15, she remembers seeing Winnie Mandela talking about Nelson Mandela on TV. She turned to her parents and asked them:
'How can this be possible? You have been telling us that we are all equal, born in rights. So how could something like this happen? I was so angry, and
that was the first time I wrote my first so-called ‘engaged' song. It was called The Day Will Come, where there will be no more oppressor, no more oppressed. There will be no more slavery, and there will be freedom for all.' Since then, she's continued to write and perform songs about equality and the struggle for rights. But she's done more than sing. She served as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). And she's devoted time, energy and money to a foundation to provide secondary school to girls in West Africa:
'When you educate a girl, it's not only the family that you raise above poverty, it's not only a community that you empower, but you educate a whole nation. It takes an educated mother to reduce child mortality at birth. It takes a mother to fight the pandemic of HIV/AIDS and malaria. It takes a woman to really talk about economic growth in any country in Africa. But basically all the men in Africa with power - they don't think about women's rights at all.'
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I have been doing this from day one. I learned this from the traditional musicians in my country. As a musician, it's your duty to entertain people but at the same time educate people. Use music to inspire people to take leadership and responsibility in their life.
Tags: Angelique Kidjo, Benin, education, rights, world music