Women from Mali

"“Finally getting out of the camps was a great day. It felt so good to get out of the gates, and just know that you were going home…finally. Home wasn't where I left it though. Getting back, I was just shocked to see what had happened, our home being bought by a different family, different decorations in the windows; it was our house, but it wasn't anymore. It hurt not being able to return home, but moving into a new home helped me I believe. I think it helped me to bury the past a little, too, you know, move on from what had happened.""

"Everyone sings in my family. But I’m the only one who dared to sing ‘for real'"

"I never took singing lessons. I was like my daughter, singing in front of videos with a hairbrush as a microphone! Probably because I was imitating the songs I watched on TV. I thought it was great"

"I was studying fashion at La Courneuve. I wanted to be a designer, but I stopped enjoying it, so I sang"

"When I was younger, I studied pattern making and I really wanted to be a pattern maker. It takes so much patience, though, and that’s not my forte. I quit in spite of myself simply because I couldn’t. That was my closest relationship with fashion"

"At the beginning of my career, I was rather skeptical about this idea of a role model. But it is a reality: I have influence"

"If I allow, through my work and my commitments, certain women to assert themselves, then it is a source of pride! I believe that influence must be useful. Otherwise it is useless"

"Women’s emancipation. That’s my fight"

"It’s all violence against women that I fight. If I can use my music and my fame for them, I never hesitate,"

"I am particularly moved because this is the very first time I am performing in South Africa"

"South Africa is so deeply rooted in history. You can't talk about South Africa without mentioning its history, culture, and great artists like Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Busi Mhlongo, etc."

"I believe it’s a decision an artist must make from the very beginning of their career. The way you present yourself to your audience is what they will remember. For instance, if you start your career singing in English or French, that’s what your audience will associate with you, and they won’t want you to do anything else. From the start, I decided that I wanted to be the continuation of all those great African women: Miriam Makeba, Angélique Kidjo, Oumou Sangaré... All these singers made themselves heard around the world while staying true to themselves. These women always sang in their respective African languages, and they always remained loyal to and proud of their African culture. They always presented themselves as African singers, nothing else. They’ve won Grammys and many other awards with this African identity."

"Looking at the new generation of African artists, many of them get trapped early on in styles that aren’t theirs, and that limits them. At this rate, I worry about the future of African music, and that in the future, there won’t be many singers who represent the African woman."

"Yes, but you have to put things in a positive way. It's true. We want to change the image of Africa, because we've been realizing that only we ourselves can change Africa. Nobody can do it for us. People try, because they love us, but only we can change things. We understand that we should stand up and try to write our own story."

"I know. I know, but for now, on the cultural side, it's a really good connection for Africa. Because my audience is not only Malian people. They come from all over the world, an this is because of social media. My lyrics are talking about women, and that concerns all women. It doesn't matter where you are from. When I say women, everyone will feel like she's part of the subject. And this is great. It's a good connection for the world."

"It's serious. We should keep fighting. There are only a few female artists doing this. It's a big responsibility. Because people can hate you. You can really have a problem with all those things"

"For now, no, because I take time to write things. I like to be direct, but very honest. That type of writing. People can feel that it's a done in a very respectful way. And it’s for the best of the country and the continent."

"I have access to all the instruments here. On tour I just have the voice and the guitar, but I prefer recording at home where I can express myself. There is no time. Time moves differently here. It is more relaxing."

"Female artists are fighting to exist. For sure we have a lot of female musicians in Mali but most of the time the projects and their music belong to men – husbands, producer, management. Musically we are not always free. I hope in the future there will be more female artists who can express themselves freely and compose instead of just singing."

"This project means a lot to me. To be involved in the protection of the Timbuktu Manuscripts is a huge honor. Conditions for men and women in Mali are very different, and for a woman to be involved in this cultural preservation is very important. It is unbelievable to be a part of it and it feels like a dream. I’m so proud and so happy.I’m very in touch with my ancestral past. Many of the visuals and ideas I use come to me in my dreams, dreams about my ancestors. To be given a chance to help protect our ancestral and cultural legacy is so special to me."

"My dream for women with albinism around the world is really that they can have access to healthy and quality education. Because what I encounter on a daily basis is deplorable."

"Mali doesn’t have a national action plan for Albinism, but with our organization AMPA, we have developed a strategic plan for the association. We developed a policy that we would like to propose to the government, a national policy that takes into account the specific needs of people with albinism. We have done this, but now we would like to review it with the other organizations so that it can include recommendations from other organizations."

"The war is exacerbating our problems considerably. You could say it is one evil too many for Africa. The bitter thing is that solutions could have been found at the beginning to prevent an escalation. But I don’t think anyone was interested in that. And even now I have the impression that no one intends to get to the bottom of the deeper causes of the war."

"In the 1960s, we wanted to break out of [foreign] domination and a model based on exporting only a few raw materials, without ever using them locally — so as to create jobs and transform our agriculture and our own production of food needs. To this day our economy consists of producing for international demand and the needs of others. Mass unemployment, mass poverty, emigration and what is called jihadism are directly related to these economic issues."

"Russia and Ukraine have a significant role in the supply of wheat, which, along with other things, is now lacking because of the sanctions. This leads to hunger, and this brings us back to my previous answer: If we could structure our economies to produce to meet our own needs, we would not be in this situation today. So Ukraine is another problem for us but not the fundamental one."

"First of all, I am a product of the left. When I entered the girls' high school, the first Republic of Mali had just been born. Like many young people, I was one of the "pioneers" under the regime of Modibo Keïta [socialist president of the country from 1960 to 1968]. Our slogan was "Pioneer today, pioneer always." In history class, we were told about the liberation struggles and more specifically about the role played by Mali and its president in the creation of the Organization of African Unity. I have been imbued with this pan-African spirit since childhood."

"I know, from my experience in Africa, France and elsewhere, that this anger is the painful and perhaps violent expression of a feeling of humiliation after all that has happened to us, of seeing our tragedies and our deaths treated differently. It also represents the humiliation felt after Nicolas Sarkozy's speech in Dakar. Fixating on an anti-French sentiment created and maintained by Russian propaganda is yet another way of telling us that we are incapable of thinking for ourselves and of revolting."

"Yes, because France has not won this war. It has gone but we have not yet won. However, there is less humiliation. In Mali, a whole generation of soldiers has experienced what this war means. Young people have been thrown into the field, without autonomy of thought or analysis of the situation. When the Malians said: "Let us try to talk to Iyad and Koufa," France replied: "No way! And people were, and still are, dropping like flies. It is all this that led us to stand up to Macron's diktat."

"I remember in 2003, I organized a strike. It was really a demonstration. Back then, we were still hoping it would be possible to clean the market of pirate products, and sell more regular cassettes and CDs. This way we would make more money for artists from their work. But what I see now, it no longer matters. This is not the purpose anymore. It's simply to find a new way to make a living from music. And the problem is that now, internationally, records don't make sense. They no longer make sense in terms of the economies. Even here. Everybody has seen it. The amount of records you sold 10 years ago now is cut in two."

"And you cannot hear good music that way. I'm sorry. We've talked a lot about Mali music during this crisis. And I say, "Well, this is a good thing. Because the rest of the world must be aware of what's happening in Mali. And if you can use music to create these conditions, it's a good thing.” But let's be careful. Before the crisis, music was in a very bad state in Mali. Absolutely. And if we do nothing against that, it's going to continue. I'm sorry. I used to be a fan before becoming a professional musician. I didn't know I would be able to become a professional musician, you know, this is still a dream coming true. When I get on stage and I perform for audience, I love that. But I still continue to listen to the others, and I really love the others’ music."

"Absolutely. But, there is still a lot to do. Yes, music in Mali is going to -- I don't know -- if we don't find solutions, that doesn't mean having big budgets to make things in Mali. No. I think it's also sociological, to understand how the audience wants music to be, and how they want to get music"

"It came after weeks of stress and wondering about what was going to happen."

"I was tired, I was crying so many times, with no ability to sleep. But I had this obligation to continue working. I had to find the energy to keep everything going. I wrote the song in two days, and we recorded it on the sixth day we made the album."

"I didn't want to sing about my sadness, I wanted to keep positive and sing about how much I love this continent."

"I respect tradition but my modernity and my experience permits me to make it a certain way and show something more contemporary concerning Mali."

"It was very hard. I was in a bad psychological state because I was separated from my children, but at the same time it was a kind of privilege because I was learning things it’s not possible to learn without being in that situation. Everything is much more intense. Sharing a small space with someone – in a week you know more about them than their mother. You know everything: when she is happy, when she cries, when she goes to the toilet, when she has a shower. You see everything."

"It was difficult for me not knowing when it would all be over and I could be with my children again."

"We never plan it ourselves, but when an opportunity does come up [to collaborate with other artists] we will work with anyone. Our door is always open."

"I was already singing by the time I was six years old. My neighbors would ask me to sing at festivities—marriages, baptisms, etc.—and they would give me presents. In 1973 [when I was 15], I went to the Institute for the Young Blind in Mali to learn Braille. When I was there I taught other people how to sing and dance."

"No, we’re always together. We’ve always played together so we will continue to play together, at least for now"

"No, there aren’t any musicians in my family; I’m the only one who sings."

"The husband-and-wife duo have been performing together for nearly 40 years. The band’s story begins at the Bamako Institute for the Young Blind in Mali. That’s where the two met in 1975. Amadou Bagayoko was blinded by cataracts as a teenager. Mariam Doumbia has been blind since she was 5 when she had the measles. They fell in love, married and began performing around Bamako, the capital of Mali. They became known around Africa as “the blind couple of Mali.”"

"I don’t think there’s ever been a band from Africa with whom people have engaged in quite such a way."

"This is not a fight against men. Here, it's the promotion of women."

"Mali is not an Islamic republic! I am in favor of adopting this code, which will allow all communities to be under a common law."

"In matriarchal societies, women were almost equal to men."

"What I mentioned is that without engaging in politics, we can truly translate into concrete actions what politics can do by relying on a commitment that is both social and intellectual. I also spoke about equality issues and the battles that remain to be fought: the battles of education, culture... Girls are not receiving the education they would like, there is a lot of school dropout among girls and the problem of access to education, period"

"As for crafts and tourism, I insisted on the fact that this pandemic forces us to reflect on the internal resources to be developed to promote local tourism and, also, a local market for crafts in order to make culture accessible to women and to delve into our cultural depths for everything that rehabilitates women, everything that revalues ​​women, so that they are stronger, more combative, more dignified."

"Have faith and conviction. It's a job that hardly feeds its man. If you're not driven by faith and conviction, you can get discouraged...But you know, it's like everything else, the most important thing is to believe in what you do."

"I suffered during my high school years because I had no real predisposition for these scientific studies. I certainly got my baccalaureate C, but in pain! I was still a good student, and I received a scholarship to study in France. And there, I had to negotiate with my parents but especially my father who thought it was too early to leave my country and that ultimately it was not necessary to go and study in France that I could do in Mali. I had to cheat, find studies or courses not available in Mali. I suggested doing a preparatory class for HEC (higher business studies). My father ended up accepting…. In addition, by choosing this course, I subtly escaped the scientific world of physics, chemistry or biolog"

"I think that single mothers today have too many obligations related to informing a person who may no longer care about their child."

"You ask yourself all the questions of new parents, you are alone to [answer them] and to face the appointments"

"20 years ago, being a single parent was still difficult" and in particular because of the judgment of certain people a whole bunch of remarks that hurt."

"since there are manageable separations, but also brutality [...] the choice to have a child alone and the widows and widowers of France [...] Life paths are different."

"The first time (I toured) the United States was a dream come true; this time it’s to make my name truly well-known"

"This time it’s with more assurance and more confidence.”"

"You have to evolve with the times"

"Life is long, and there are always obstacles,Whatever I do, I do clearly with all my strength."

"My objective is to see the young girls singing, taking the stage, and doing things for themselves. There are many more women who have become artists — 70 percent of new artists (in Mali) are women — and even those who don’t have the voice to sing accompany others in dance groups or they dance. A lot has changed, even in my city of Timbuktu."

"My music makes me feel young."

"If you ban music in Mali, or in the whole world, it's like cutting people's oxygen off"