I am honored to call Abramz Tekya a friend of mine. From a difficult life growing up as an A.I.D.S. orphan to starting Breakdance Project Uganda, this inspiring 27 year old Ugandan has already positively affected the lives of so many.

One particular Wednesday evening, upon invitation from Abramz, I decided to put on my dancin’ pants and try my hand at breakdancing. Some sweet 90’s throwback hip hop was pumping from the speakers and the hall was quickly filled with energetic youth, talking and laughing. Then slowly the whole room came alive as participants began breakdancing. The venue is the Sharing Youth Center in Kampala Uganda. Since February 2007, Breakdance Project Uganda has held classes every Monday and Wednesday night free of charge.

“Breakdancing is a tool to overcome being idle and the undermining feeling of having no direction in life. It is a way of reaching out to the kids in the slum area who do not have the money for schools and who are unemployed. In this project we’re all equal, everyone is a student and everyone is a teacher. If you learn something for free you teach somebody else for free”, Abramz says.

Recently a film crew directed by Nabil Elderkin and Crazy Legs (founder of the Rock Steady Crew) visited Uganda after receiving an invitation from Abramz to teach b-boy classes. What they discovered upon arrival was both heartbreaking and inspiring. Traveling throughout Uganda, from the southern slums to the war-torn North, Crazy Legs encountered a passion for hip-hop and desire to learn amongst the most squalid conditions. “Bouncing Cats” is an inspiring story of one man’s attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda using the unlikely tool of hip-hop with a focus on b-boy culture and breakdancing. Abraham “Abramz” Tekya’s Breakdance Project Uganda (B.P.U.) is a project that could empower, rehabilitate and heal the community by teaching youth about b-boy culture. The film features narration by Common and interviews with Mos Def, Will-I-Am, and K’Naan.

Check out this trailer for the upcoming film, and make sure you go and see it once it’s released!

BOUNCING CATS film trailer from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

Upon first arriving in East Africa I was shocked by the strong influence of Jamaican music on Ugandan culture. It seemed that about 2/3 of the songs being played on the radio could fit into the dancehall genre. It was evident that the embracing of western culture as superior has led to a devastating loss of Uganda’s traditions in speech, music, dress, and visual art. Professor John Ssempeke voiced the same concerns with the loss of Ugandan culture. In conversation with him at Uganda’s National Museum the professor of traditional African music expressed “slowly our culture is being lost to Westernization. I believe that one day in the near future our precious culture will become totally lost, and people will long to have it back.”

While I tend to dislike the majority of Ugandan dancehall music, I thought this video offered an interesting perspective on this popular sub-culture of urban Uganda. I would love to open this topic up for dialogue and hear what other opinions are represented…feel free to add your comment to this post.

Known best for their video of the song “Stand By Me” (which has over 16 million views on YouTube), the organization Playing For Change has a very unique vision to transcend the human race from the darkness to the light using music as their weapon.

This beautiful song (War/No More Trouble by Bob Marley) features musicians from all over the world who have seen and overcome conflict and hatred with love and perseverance.