mediasanctuary, Oct. 25, 2016
Stellar Malian actress/songstress Fatoumata Diawara performed with her band at The Sanctuary for Independent Media on April 28, 2016 and brought down the house.
[...]
Here she sings her powerful lament about the ancient city of Timbuktu, under assault by religious fundamentalists:
THIS IS MY LAND
This is Timbuktu, my home land,
Where the children are mourning from gloom,
This is my land, Timbuktu «the Maliba»,
The land of love,
The land of warmth,
The land of dignity,
Here is my Nation…
Why are we crying?
Why are the children crying?
Why are the young crying?
Cause of unfairness,
Cause of violence,
Fearing the future…
Here is my home
Stop crying
Cause no matter what, Timbuktu will remain
****
Universal Music France, Dec 12, 2014
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases two videos of Malian actress, singer, and songwriter Fatoumata Diawara performing "Timbuktu Fasso".
Information about Fatoumata Diawara is included in this post along with information about Mandé languages, and information about the city Timbuktu which is located in Mali, West Africa.
Infomation abou tthe meaning of the name "Fatoumata" is also provided in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, educational, entertainment, onamastic, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Fatoumata Diawara for her musical legacy and thanks to all those who are featured in and associated with these videos. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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INFORMATION ABOUT FATOUMATA DIAWARA
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatoumata_Diawara
"Fatoumata Diawara (Bambara: ߝߊ߫ߕߎߡߕߊ ߖߊ߯ߥߙߊ߫, romanized: Fatumta Jawara, born
1982 in Ouragahio, Ivory Coast) is a Malian actress, singer-songwriter and
guitarist[1] currently living in France. She received two nominations at the
61st Annual Grammy Awards for Best World Music Album for her album Fenfo and
Best Dance Recording for Ultimatum in which she was featured with the English
band Disclosure.[2]
Biography
Diawara was born in the Ivory Coast to Malian parents. As an
adolescent, she was sent back to their native Bamako in Mali to be raised by an
aunt. When she was eighteen, Diawara moved to France to pursue acting. She
briefly returned to Mali for a film role, but fled back to Paris to avoid being
coerced into marriage by her family.[3]
Diawara later took up the guitar and began composing her own material, writing songs that blend Wassoulou traditions of southern Mali with international influences.[4] She has said that she is "the first female solo electric guitar player in Mali".[1]
Film and theater
After moving to France, Diawara appeared in Cheick Oumar
Sissoko's 1999 feature film Genesis, Dani Kouyaté's popular 2001 film Sia, le
rêve du python, and in the internationally renowned street theatre troupe Royal
de Luxe. She also played a leading role in the musical Kirikou et Karaba.[5]
Simultaneously with pursuing her musical career, Diawara has continued her cinematic activities, with numerous roles, appearances, and musical input in multiple feature films, including in Timbuktu, which won seven César Award nods and an Academy Award nomination in 2014.[6]
Music performance and recording
Noted for her "sensuous voice,"[7] Diawara sings
primarily in Bambara, the national language of Mali, and builds on the
tradition of "songs of advice" from the culture of her ancestral
Wassoulou region."...
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MEANING OF THE NAME "FATOUMATA"
"Fatoumata" is a Mandé language form of the Arabic name "Fatima"; Here's information about the name "Fatima":
"Fatima is the name of Prophet Muhammad’s daughter, peace and blessings of Allah upon him and his family and companions. The meaning of Fatima is a child who has been weaned off breast milk. The linguists of the Arabic language aren’t certain why this word is used as a name. It is not mentioned in the Quran, whether directly or indirectly. But since it is the name of the Prophet’s daughter, Muslims consider it a high-status name". https://quranicnames.com/fatima/
-snip-
Here's information about Mande languages:
*From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mande_languages
"The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé peoples and include Maninka, Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Kpelle, Dioula, Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are "60 to 75 languages spoken by 30 to 40 million people",[1] chiefly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast, and also in northwestern Nigeria and northern Benin."
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INFORMATION ABOUT TIMBUKTU
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbuktu
"Timbuktu… is a city in Mali, situated 20 km (12 mi) north of
the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the
eight administrative regions of Mali. It had a population of 54,453 in the 2009
census.
Timbuktu started out as a seasonal settlement and became a permanent settlement early in the 12th century. After a shift in trading routes, particularly after the visit by Mansa Musa around 1325, Timbuktu flourished from the trade in salt, gold, ivory, and slaves. It became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century. In the first half of the 15th century, the Tuareg tribes took control of the city for a short period until the expanding Songhai Empire absorbed the city in 1468. A Moroccan army defeated the Songhai in 1591 and made Timbuktu, rather than Gao, their capital. The invaders established a new ruling class, the Arma, who after 1612 became virtually independent of Morocco. However, the golden age of the city, during which it was a major learning and cultural centre of the Mali Empire, was over, and it entered a long period of decline. Different tribes governed until the French took over in 1893, a situation that lasted until it became part of the current Republic of Mali in 1960. Presently, Timbuktu is impoverished and suffers from desertification.
In its Golden Age, the town's numerous Islamic scholars and extensive trading network made possible an important book trade: together with the campuses of the Sankore Madrasah, an Islamic university, this established Timbuktu as a scholarly centre in Africa. Several notable historic writers, such as Shabeni and Leo Africanus, wrote about the city. These stories fuelled speculation in Europe, where the city's reputation shifted from being extremely rich to being mysterious.
[…]
Hundreds of thousands of manuscripts were collected in
Timbuktu over the course of centuries: some were written in the town itself,
others – including exclusive copies of the Quran for wealthy families –
imported through the lively booktrade.
[…]
During the occupation by Islamic extremists the citizens of
the city embarked on a drive to save the "best written accounts of African
History." Interviewed by the Times the local residents claimed to have
safeguarded the three hundred thousand manuscripts for generations. Many of
these documents are still in the safe keeping of the local residents who are
reluctant to give them overs to the government-run Ahmed Baba Institute housed
in a modern digitalization building built by the South African government in
2009. The institute houses only 10% of the manuscripts[97] It was later
confirmed by Jean-Michel Djian to the New Yorker that "the great majority
of the manuscripts, about fifty thousand, are actually housed in the thirty-two
family libraries of the 'City of 333 Saints'". He added, "Those are
to this day protected." He also added that due to the massive efforts of
one individual two hundred thousand other manuscripts were successfully
transported to safety[98] This effort was organized by Abdel Kader Haidara,
then director of Mamma Haidara Library, using his own funds. Haidara purchased
metal footlockers in which up to 300 manuscripts could be securely stored.
Nearly 2,500 of these lockers were distributed to safe houses across the city.
Many were later moved to Dreazen.
[99]”…
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