I've got to where I am in life not because of something I brought to the world but through something I found - the wealth of African culture.
Hugh MasekelaRead
My biggest obsession is to show Africans and the world who the people of Africa really are.
Interpretation
Hugh Masekela emphasizes the importance of accurately portraying African identity and culture to both Africans and the global community.
In this quote, Hugh Masekela expresses his deep passion for revealing the true essence and richness of African people and culture. He recognizes that there are often misconceptions about Africa and its people, and he is dedicated to showcasing their stories, talents, and realities to challenge stereotypes and foster a better understanding of the continent.
In practice
During a speech addressing cultural representation at a conference.
I've got to where I am in life not because of something I brought to the world but through something I found - the wealth of African culture.
Celebrity life and media culture are probably the most overbearing pop-cultural conditions that we as young people have to deal with, because it forces us to judge ourselves.
Maybe it's naïve, but I would love to believe that once you grow to love some aspect of a culture-its music, for instance -you can never again think of the people of that culture as less than yourself. I would like to believe that if I am deeply moved by a song originating from some place other than my own homeland, then I have in some way shared an experience with the people of that culture. I have been pleasantly contaminated. I can identify in some small way with it and its people.
But I feel music has a very important role in ritual activity, and that being able to join in musical activity, along with dancing, could have been necessary at a very early stage of human culture.
From a hundred cultures, [there is] one culture which does what no culture has ever done before-gives a place to every human gift.
We are in the process of creating what deserves to be called the idiot culture. Not an idiot sub-culture, which every society has bubbling beneath the surface and which can provide harmless fun; but the culture itself. For the first time, the weird and the stupid and the coarse are becoming our cultural norm, even our cultural ideal.
We usually forget that apart from making a living on this earth, human beings live in societies and these societies have cultures. It is only through having cultures that mankind on this earth has an ordered and meaningful life. Music and drama are two of the many important manifestation of a culture. They are important because they represent the expressions emanating from the power of human artistic creativity
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