Africa Is a Country

The art and activism of Gabriel Teodros

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

The art and activism of Gabriel Teodros

By
Boima Tucker

This past weekend I had the immense pleasure to sit alongside Gabriel Teodros, Bocafloja, and Linda Guyse at a series of panels in (very cold) Wooster, Ohio, for Wooster College’s Africa Week. During the day we discussed with students everything from African identity in the US, the failures of the international non-profit industrial complex, the continuation of American slavery in the form of the US prison-industrial complex, and trying to stay independent amidst the Silicone-Valley dominated corporate music-industrial complex. Many industrial complexes were discussed, and amongst the wide range of topics Gabriel’s sincerity, and the drive with which he pursues both his art and his social activism stood out.

How he is able intertwine these dual pursuits is nicely illustrated in his latest video for Greeny Jungle, a marimba-sampling, classic boom bap rap tune featuring Shakiah and SoulChef. The video was shot during a recent #BlackLivesMatter protest amongst the streets of (neo-liberalizing) Seattle, and features both live performance footage, and Teodros and Shakiah marching alongside their fellow community members. Look out for a heart-warming handshake with a young fan towards the end!

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