MC Abdul - 'Light It Up'

 

Paris holistay

Jardin des Plantes

Place de la Contrescarpe

 

All these wars

 

Such strange times... 

It's summer and summer used to make me happy. At least since 2010.

I should be in Kenya, reporting on very important series of protests. Instead, I'm on leave. I'm supposed to 'detach' and get some rest, too close to burnout...

I arrived in Kenya in September 2010, and this country taught me so much. I loved it so much. I travelled wide and far, from Nairobi to Mombasa, Kisumu by Lake Victoria, Samburu territory, then Zanzibar, Uganda, Somalia, Ethiopia, Somaliland...

No one should believe they know the world if they have not been to Africa. So much of the history of the West is buried there, from the conquest of the American colonies to the slave trade and the invention of capitalism as we know it with stolen resources and land.

Now there are so many wars raging at the four corners of his Earth. And so little, we, journalists can do to stop them. And fires, floods, and climate disruption.

And we're witnessing the death of democracy at all the other corners.

The powerlessness of our testimonies feels unbearable.

And no joy can sustain; no song sounds sad enough. 

When I lived in Kenya, I was also writing a lot, notes, diaries, and fiction. And I was particularly reflecting on my experience in the USA, a couple of year prior, in 2008. Such a dysfunctional country... Now leaking its deviance to the whole planet. It's unbearable.

I was imagining a civil war in the U.S. of A.

Am I watching it unfold from afar now? But I care more about the rest of the world. The manufactured hunger and poverty. 

How can we get out of this loop now? Isn't it too late?

I keep thinking during other wars, at least we had a sense of right and wrong, the Iraq war, World War II... Now we've lost all forms of compass.

And I remember the land in Kenya, the soil, the hours I walked everywhere while everyone kept driving...

A few records were the soundtrack of that time full of hope and of so many lessons on human rights and equality.

And now?

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"You always seemed so sure /

That one day we'd be fighting in a suburban war"...

"In my dreams, we're still screaming"....

"Sometimes I can't believe it 

I'm moving past the feeling 

Sometimes I can't believe it 

I'm moving past the feeling again"

"If I could have it back 

All the time that we wasted 

I’d only waste it again 

If I could have it back You know 

I would love to waste it again 

Waste it again and again and again 

I forgot to ask"

 "Sometimes I can’t believe it 

I’m moving past the feeling again 

Sometimes I can’t believe it 

I’m moving past the feeling again"

... 'I'm moving past the feeling... again..."

 

 

No Man Is an Island

No man is an island,

Entire of itself;

Every man is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less,

As well as if a promontory were:

As well as if a manor of thy friend's

Or of thine own were.

Any man's death diminishes me,

Because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;

It tolls for thee.

'A Simple Song'

 

Khalid Abdalla - 'A Simple Song'

A simple song’ is a debut song by Khalid Abdalla. It is dedicated to the children of Palestine, past, present and future. And to all children of genocide. Khalid says the song came to him when, ‘in the middle of an ongoing genocide, Trump and Netanyahu proposed ethnically cleansing Gaza and turning it into a Riviera’. It was first released on his social media and received over half a million views in 24 hours. Khalid is a multidisciplinary artist, known as an actor for his roles in The Crown and The Kite Runner, amongst others, and for his commitment to breaking silence on Palestine. Written by Khalid Abdalla Produced by Martin Terefe and Dave Okumu Recorded by Liam Larking, Oskar Winberg and George Murphy at Eastcote Studios, London. Assisted by Ed Clay. Mixed by Martin Terefe and George Murphy Khalid Abdalla - Vocals and Piano Dave Okumu - Electric Guitar Martin Terefe - Wurlitzer and Electronics Nikolaj Torp Larsen - Accordion Dan See - Drums Backing vocals by: Jodie Shanahan, Siobhan Elouise; Shamime Ibrahim, Suzanne Ghadban, Bryant Akanmu Mastered by Dyre Gormsen at Eastcote Mastering Recording administration by Annie Benson Music Video Credits Directed by Khalid Abdalla with Led by Donkeys Bournemouth Beach footage courtesy of Led by Donkeys

Interview on Frantz Fanon with film director Rico Speight, from Harlem

 

This week, I spoke with film and theatre director Rico Speight, on the line from Harlem, about his ne documentary film 'Rediscovering Fanon', screened in Paris on 5 July 2025.

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More in my newsletter:

A hundred years of fortitude...

From a new film on Fanon to the boom of book industry in Africa, this week I bring some optimism and anti-oppression rebellion to your inboxes in these times of wars, heat, and terrible crimes...

Melissa Chemam

Jul 03, 2025

Read from Substack:

A hundred years of fortitude...

Another song: 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'

 

You look for a song by Nina Simone one YouTube, and have to sit through 1 min of useless, infuriating advert... So very 21st century...

'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood', by the amazing and unique Nina Simone.

A song

 

Music used to make me so happy... 

But these days are challenging...

Still today, back to one of my favourite bands from Bristol, another blast for the past no longer to exist in the current possibilities for a future.

The Desert - 'Cloudbusting' - Kate Bush COVER

Glastonbury vs Gaza

 

The main reason why I don't post about my book anymore... is materialising on steroids this week in the UK.
Read comments about #Glastonbury? Well... voilà...

After the events in #Gaza in 2014 and my experience with the UN in Central #Africa, I had this idea that it could be powerful to team up with #artists who support the oppressed, and voice their opinions for human rights.

Now, we see how weaponised this is by mainstream media...

One of the #artists I interviewed told me the day I met him in# Bristol: 'What can we do, really? What can artists and #musicians do? #Palestinians and other people at war need #lawyers and #journalists..." He was right from the start.

I loved coming to Bristol, it was among the best years of my life, but today, after the Covid crisis, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, with wars in Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza, DRC... music and art are not the story, #people are the story.

https://melissa.substack.com/

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Photos from a 2016 concert, in Paris Le Zénith: