Help me fight Cancer! On this one day, let’s not look see one another as West African or East African, let’s not be male or female, let’s not be black or white. Let us be one humanity supporting one another in a cause that is blind to all of our prejudices. Live Laugh Love and let’s hold hands in a fight to prevent and eradicate cancer. 

On April 29, 2018 at 5:00PM join me and Sona in our fight to end cancer. Like many of you I have suffered as the victim of cancer.  Cancer has no prejudice it doesn’t categories it victims, it doesn’t think about their families or the pain that it afflicts.  So on April 29 we will be taking the fight to it. We are partnering with 220 Magazine in promoting a new tradition in Griot music. 220 is an area code in The Gambia. We are hosting Sona Jobarteh, the first female virtuoso in the Griot tradition to professionally play the Kora.  Please see some of the samples of her work.  Sona is also a social activist and like me a believer in empowering those around her.  Join us in her fight to improve the outlook of women around the world in being who they want to be. 

Our goal is to raise $10,000.  The cost of the concert ticket purchase is tax deductible through the organization I have co-founded, The Rights 2 Life Foundation.  Over the past years, I have served as the chairman of Neighborhood Planning Unit – V (NPU-V), chairman of the Atlanta Beltline Tax Allocation District Advisory Committee, delegate to the Atlanta Planning Advisory Board, Vice Chair of the Morehouse School of Medicine Prevention Research Center and Executive Director of The Rights 2 Life Foundation just to name a few of my roles in improving the quality of life for those around me.

The Rights 2 Life Foundation is a 501c3 in Metro Atlanta based on the belief that every person has a right to life and all the resources necessary for a desirable quality of life.  Among these resources include education, nutrition, health, safety, shelter, transportation and progress of economic success. It is also our belief that it is the responsibility of each of us to ensure that our fellow person receives access to these needs in life. 

Help me reach my goal! Help me improve the lives of many Atlantan’s who go without proper healthcare. Our federal budgets in the CDC and other critical services have been cut.  Help us provide access to the needed services many go without every day and help us put an end to the detriment of cancer for you, your loved ones and every person you interact with.  Please come out.

Tickets are Tax Deductible. If you can’t make it on April 29, 2018, then join us again on April 30, 2018 and Join Sona in masterclass at the Speaker’s Auditorium of Georgia State University.  Listen to the story of her travels, get an understanding of her work and her role in empowering women.  If you play an instrument, be one of our few stage VIP’s and play in accord with Sona’s instrument, The Kora.  The kora is a 21-string lute-bridge-harp used extensively in West Africa. 

Kora players have traditionally come from griot families (also from the Mandinka nationalities) who are traditional historians, genealogists and storytellers who pass their skills on to their descendants. The instrument is played in Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and the Gambia. A traditional kora player is called a Jali, similar to a "bard" or oral historian. Most West African musicians prefer the term "jali" to "griot", which is the French word. – wiki.

All tickets are tax deductible.  

Sona Jobarteh is the first female Kora virtuoso to come from a west African Griot family. Breaking away from tradition, she is a pioneer in an ancient male-dominated hereditary tradition that has been exclusively handed down from father to son for the past seven centuries. Reputed for her skill as an instrumentalist, distinctive voice, infectious melodies and her grace onstage, Sona has rapidly risen to international success following the release of her critically acclaimed album “Fasiya” (Heritage) in 2011.

The Kora (a 21-stringed African harp) is one of the most important instruments belonging to the Manding peoples of West Africa (Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau). It belongs exclusively to griot families (hereditary musical families), and only those who are born into one of these families have the right to take up the instrument professionally. Sona, who was born into one of the five principal Griot families, has become the first female to take up this instrument professionally in a male tradition that dates back over seven centuries.

Sona's family carries a heavy reputation for renowned Kora masters, notably her grandfather Amadu Bansang Jobarteh who was an icon in Gambia’s cultural and musical history, and her cousin Toumani Diabaté who is renowned for his mastery of the Kora.

MasterClass with Sona Jobarteh An account of the history of the Griot tradition in West African Classical music and the countries and families involved.

Our host will ask and take a few questions from our audience the Kora itself and its place in the tradition of African Culture. Through our host’s interactions asks aspects of Sona's journey and how her expression through the instrument – including how unusual it is for a Kora master to also be a singer and of course: be a woman (even today).

Questions will be asked about the physical structure of the instrument and why it sounds as it does. Understanding of how Sona see’s music in her life today. We will get an understanding of the importance of education for children generally and legacies in particular (Sona is also a Kora luthier and has trained others how to make the instrument) There will be discussion on major turning point influences on her career and beliefs, musically and otherwise. What might be the future of Kora music and why it's important to preserve its power. Questions about her approach to composing; her particular approach to making albums; and additional questions from our audience to wrap up this inspiring event!

Masterclass will begin promptly at 7:00PM

A doors open reception will begin at 6:00PM 

Attendees will have an opportunity to provide questions during the reception that our host will ask of our artist! 

This is an event no musician wants to miss! 

Follow The Rights 2 Life Foundation - https://www.instagram.com/rights2life

and 

Sona Jobarteh - https://www.instagram.com/sonajobarteh

Parking Available at 33 Auditorium Pl SE, Atlanta, GA 30303 https://goo.gl/maps/6rqfYfk3XaE2