And the Beat Making Lab goes on, to Ethiopia at Tadias Magazine

Beat Making Lab students in class working on a beat. (Credit: Photo: IntraHealth)

By Pierce Freelon

Each morning in Addis Ababa, I piled into the historic home of the late Muluemebet Emiru — Africa’s first woman pilot — with 16 musicians and poets. The house was temporarily transformed into a community space for songwriting and music production called a Beat Making Lab.

In Addis Ababa, we collaborated with a global health organization called Intrahealth, asking students to reflect on health issues in their communities as they composed beats and poems. Among our most talented students was a young woman named Gelila, whose poem about access to health care facilities became the basis for a catchy anthem collectively produced by several of our Ethiopian students.

Tadias Magazine

And the Beat Making Lab goes on, to Ethiopia

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