Songs Of The Crickets + Children Of Diaspora

GlobalFaction: ESSAM - Though we spoke different languages I was able to interact with the locals. I learned that the body is a tongue and it speaks its own dialect. There is a perspective where individuals believe third world countries don't have much in terms of materials and revenue, but in actuality these beautiful individuals have far more than the "wealthiest" people in the world can ever attain. That is the wealth of contentment, beautiful character, and collectiveness as a community. My inspiration to create this piece, Songs of the Crickets, was to reflect, learn, and obtain aspects of the village's culture and to incorporate it into our own flawed individualistic society where we are stripped of our identity living in the West.

Short history of the people: Cham Muslims
1) "Written records as well as oral testimony have led me to conclude that in 1977 the Khmer Rouge launched a policy to eliminate the Cham from Cambodia."

(2) "It is estimated that prior to 1975, the Cham Muslims comprised 10 percent of Cambodia's population (roughly 700,000 of the country's 7,000,000 people). After the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, only 200,000 ethnic Cham remained alive."

The man I was raised by, who I call my father was one of the 200,000 survivors. His wife, daughter and one of two sons did not survive. If it hadn't been for his story, this video would not even exist.

_________




LOWKEY FT. MAI KHALIL - CHILDREN OF DIASPORA

Lyrics:

VERSE 1 -

Lost in this city of fog rarely seen by the sun,
Just cos your both but neither doesnt mean that your none,
Never captains of the ship but they mistook us for some passengers
Now we're stuck here singing soul music from diaspora,
Your hosts cant relate to your sense of dislocation,
The type of pain that cannot be contained in a dissertation,
"Diaspora" the reason that the terrified are setting fires,
"Diaspora" the reason they couldnt jeprodise zephiniah,
Considered as a compliment if our beauty is fetishized,
Your history is power thats the reason some are petrified,
Colonial mimic, mascot crying behind a mask,
Or a man with amnesia trying to find his past,
Anthony walker never had a weapon but they still got him,
Stephen lawrence never had a weapon but they still got him,
Mark duggan never had a weapon but they still shot him,
They call them first world diaspora problems,

Chorus:

Don't you wonder what became of the children of diaspora?
Those that innovated in their ways and their vernacular,
Those that saw their traces in the faces of the massacred,
I wonder what became of them,
Tell me what became of them
Zoha Hadeed was a child of diaspora,
So fear not, fear not,
Edward Said was a child of diaspora,
So fear not, fear not,
Never bow to the Queen no,
We never bow to the Queen no,
Never bow to the Queen no, no, no, no, no, no
x2

VERSE 2 -

Since the middle passage either sink or you swim,
Bleach the pigment of skin and pray its privilidge trickling in,
But are we missing the link?
Diasporas the reason MJ did to his nose what they did to the sphinx,
And why Marley made the most classic of art,
The reason Gaby Douglas didn't put her hand on her heart,
The reason Malcolm Little changed his name to X,
The reason the Presisdent's melanin remains a threat,
Ahmed made a clock, they arrested him and mangled his name,
But the root of the word is to thank and to praise,
Racism manifests in many cancerous ways,
We must rally for change in these most tragic of days,
Cos Emmit Till didn't have a weapon but they still got him,
Tamir Rice never had a weapon but they still shot him,
Alton Sterling never had a weapon but they still shot him,
They call them first world diaspora problems,

Chorus:

Don't you wonder what became of the children of diaspora?
Those that innovated in their ways and their venacular,
Those saw their traces in the faces of the massacred,
I wonder what became of them, tell me what became of them,
Nina Simone was a child of diaspora,
So fear not, fear not,
Franz Fanon was a child of diaspora,
So fear not, fear not,
Pledge no allegiance to the flag no,
Pledge no allegiance to the flag no,
Pledge no allegiance to the flag no, no, no, no, no, no
x2


"Exile is strangely compelling to think about
but terrible to experience.
It is the unhealable rift forced between a human
being and a native place, between the self
and its true home: its essential sadness
can never be surmounted.
And while it is true that literature and history
contain heroic, romantic, glorious, even triumphant episodes
in an exile's life, these are no more than efforts meant to overcome
the crippling sorrow of estrangement.
The achievements of exile are permanently undermined
by the loss of something left behind forever."

Edward W. Said