ANGELIQUE KIDJO-AFRICA IS MORE THAN DISEASES.

Singer Angelique Kidjo is a symbol of Africa' s
creativity , energy and beauty .
Through her work with the United Nations and
her own foundation, she has travelled across the
continent , raising money at times of disaster .
But above all else , she has campaigned for the
right of more girls to go to school .
And with Africa facing new challenges - from
Ebola to extremists opposed to girls ' education -
she is vocal in her criticism of Western
depictions of the continent .
"Do you think everybody in Africa has Ebola ?"
she asks on Talk to Al Jazeera. "We didn ' t
invent Ebola . It 's just a disease that exists
there. Like , are we going to be blamed for
inventing malaria too ? If there is an Ebola
outbreak in the Western world , will the media in
the West treat it the same way ?"
She also expressed her frustration with the way
Western media portray Africa as a continent
steeped in violence, victimhood and corruption .
"A success story in Africa doesn 't interest any
media , " she says . " They are so eager and
hungry for horrible stories from Africa. Why ? It
looks like the West is the hyena , feeding on the
misery of the African people . They should be
ashamed doing this ."
On the topic of terrorism , she is crushing in her
criticism of ISIL but urges an analysis of why
young people are joining the group.
"Everybody wants to fight ISIS . Why can' t we
just do something better for people and remove
the legitimacy of all those crazy extremists that
are there just for the pleasure of killing people
and for power ?" she asks .
Now in her mid- 50' s, Kidjo has just written her
life story , Spirit Rising , and released a new
album , Eve. She is still recording and touring at
a hectic pace , but where does she see her
musical career going from here? And with all the
challenges facing Africa, does she feel optimistic
about the future of her beloved continent ?
Singer Angelique Kidjo is a symbol of Africa' s
creativity , energy and beauty . Her music is a
unique blend of her own very West African
heritage combined with funk , jazz and Latin
music , and much more .
From the small country of Benin , she has won
awards and recognition around the world . But
Kidjo is also a champion of African causes .

Credit:peacefmonline