PCI-Media Impact Premieres Anti-Violence Music Video at UNCSW
NEW YORK, March 6, 2013 /3BL Media/ – PCI-Media Impact premiered a hip co music video, “Song for Hawa,” to help prevent violence against women and girls. The video featuring Takun J, recently awarded Best Hip Co Artist of the Year by the Liberian Entertainment Awards, was shown to over 700 change-makers at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women kickoff event on Sunday.
PCI-Media Impact has partnered with Liberia’s number one hip co star to produce two songs that address and try to reduce the high rates of sexual violence in the country. Takun J is a local icon who communicates directly and powerfully to his fellow Liberians through his music. Hip co, a popular music genre in the country, includes lyrics that are rapped or sung in colloquial English and explicitly address urgent political and social issues.
This project is part of PCI-Media Impact’s Mobilize4Africa media initiative to help prevent violence and abuse towards women in Liberia by amplifying their stories so they are heard on national and international levels.
Takun J’s inspirations for “Song for Hawa” were conversations he had with girls who are survivors of gender-based violence. These girls live at a rehabilitation home run by THINK (Touching Humanity in Need of Kindness).
Takun J is wholly dedicated to bringing an end to the culture of violence in Liberia, “I have to do this because I know it is necessary to do it. I am speaking on the ills, trying to talk positive on things and trying to change our society. These girls could be my sisters. I have to reach out there for them through my music and through my actions.”
In addition to the video and songs, PCI-Media Impact is empowering these girls to use photography to tell their own stories; the result is an eye-opening look at what it means to be a female in this war-ravaged country.
Ranging from ages 13 to 24, half of them already mothers and most below a fourth grade reading level, these girls have heart-wrenching stories to tell. None have ever used a camera before and most have never had a photo taken of themselves. Equipped with cameras and knowledge about how to use them, each becomes a powerful agent of change. As one girls explained, “If other girls are going to change and have different experiences in life, then they will have to learn from our example.”
If you want to become part of this story, please watch the video at PCI-Media Impact, see the girls’ stories on backspaces or support this project with a donation.
