Few guest speakers, or even performers, manage to get everyone in the Wood Theatre up on their feet and dancing along with them. This was not much of a challenge for Emmanuel Jal, however, despite the gravity of his message. From beginning to end, the charismatic rapper, activist, and former child soldier engaged the entire audience in his music and advocacy for world peace.
“I’ll tell you why I’m here,” Emmanuel began. “I travel the world to share my story for social and emotional learning. When we tell stories, we put a spotlight on a dark place.”
In his own life, that dark place resulted from the war in Sudan, during which 2.5 million people were killed, including Emmanuel’s mother and many other relatives. “Life in the village was simple,” he said, recounting a few hilarious childhood anecdotes. “And then the war reached us.” At his father’s insistence, Emmanuel set out with others to walk hundreds of miles to Ethiopia, where he was supposed to go to school. Many died along the way, but he made it – only to be forced to become a child soldier.
To convey this lowest point in his life, Emmanuel rapped the details of being “forced to sin to make a living” and “seeing my people die like flies,” wondering, “Why when kids were learning to read and write – why was I learning to fight?”
Four years later, his escape was equally harrowing, but he was eventually rescued by Emma McCune, a British aid worker who smuggled him to Kenya to get an education. “Because of her, I am here; she was a turning point in my life,” he noted. “You don’t have to be a millionaire to make a difference…you can be a zero-naire. You never know what kind of difference you can make to one child.” That he was not crushed by his experiences – instead emerging as a vibrant, energetic, creative artist – was inspirational to see.
Urging Middlesex students to “make this world a better place,” Emmanuel stressed, “If you have no purpose, whatever you have will destroy you. Purpose is serving something bigger than you. We have a responsibility to make this world better for everyone.”
He is working to do just that, through making music and films, visiting schools, and founding charities. “What is the greatest battle you have to fight to make this world better?” Emmanuel asked, humorously rejecting responses until one student suggested that it was the battle for education. “If you know something, you are valuable,” he affirmed, promoting knowledge as the key to peace. Gathering a few students and faculty on stage, he ended with a school-wide dance session and a pledge for education and peace, to “lead the change I want to see.”
As Emmanuel’s visit was made possible by the Landry Family Foundation, Barrie Landry (the mother of three Middlesex alumni and grandmother of one current student) was on hand for the event and spoke briefly about the plight of millions of refugees in the world. “Most refugees are children,” she said, “who are most at risk for exploitation and trafficking.” Millions today may be in dire need of the same kind of help that Emmanuel was lucky to receive – and that he now strives to give others in return.