Toubab Krewe

Finally got to see Toubab Krewe live at
The Pourhouse in Charleston
LOVED IT!

Influenced by one of my favorite music genres - West African percussion - these guys rocked and were tight!
I had met a couple of them a few years ago when they played with the group Common Ground out of Asheville and was happy to finally catch up with them. They graciously allowed me to videotape their performance. Tough to do with one camera and a dark stage but also tough to shoot and not just enjoy...

SC Repsonds to Genocide

A few months ago I joined a group called the
Darfur Action Group of SC.
The group's mission is to bring awareness to the genocide happening in Sudan, Africa and to push our leaders into action to help stop the violence and insanity of the situation there. Darfur is not the only region in the world that is presently suffering from this type of violence - but we cannot sit back and let this happen without taking SOME kind of action. Whether it be Darfur, Rawanda, Albania, Iraq or your own community, suffering, violence, rape and murder is never acceptable.















Oct. 6th 2007 we held a rally.
Although working on this project has brought me nightmares and anguish for the suffering it has also introduced me to new friends that I love and respect.














For the rally I asked my friends Mohamed DeCosta and Abou Sylla to perform.


They drove up from Florida to participate and stayed at my home. Tasana Camera also came.
Sitting on my porch while they played kora and balafon was sublime.
I also asked Danielle Howle and Brian Conner to participate which they did gladly.















Djole children's group out of Charleston performed and totally gained my respect as an ensemble. The dedication and professionalism from these kids was top notch!



Click on the title above to check out our web site for more info or to volunteer as well.
Video's to promote rally and rally montage below. More videos can be found on youtube.



Photos by Janae Davis, Austin Watson, Hartley Barber and myself.
Video was shot by Josh Rose and Chris Tilley.
Although the rally is over there is much work to be done.
I wonder, worry and debate if something like a rally has any meaning or brings any change to the situation but at the VERY LEAST it has opened eyes and hearts to this particular brutal situation.
Lots of people I talked to before the rally didn't even know where Darfur is and certainly didn't know what was going on over there...sooooo at the VERY LEAST we have educated and made more people aware.