Serve and Protect

The overview of "Serve and Protect", directed by S.W. Wilcox and Epic Muntzir reads: "In the future, justice is no longer blind. Or even human. The year is 2162. Mankind is still reeling from a cataclysmic crash from the greatest technological heights it has ever known. Advances in time travel and medicine were made, but at the price of faster advances in weaponry. The worst fears of the nuclear age were realized and the world was plunged into Atomic War. Now, there are only small pockets of humanity left. In one such city, cyborg police track a resistance fighter, speeding first through a neon city that gasps for energy-remnants and then into a desert showdown. The stunning 4k futuristic animation is achieved through expertise in Adobe After Effects. It details spinning tires, smoky streets and windblown hair to the finest detail, with song lyrics included as a final touch."

You're lying to yourself if you think you're free!
Corruption and power go hand in hand,

According to his director biography, S.W. Wilcox was certified legally blind in 2024, so he is "collecting my final video and scripts while I can still read for a few hours per day." He gives kudos "and horns up to computer-tech that allows breathtaking 4k illustrated videos...that add new life and enjoyment to even 50-year-old songs that millions grew up on." In his director statement he says: "Even those with law degrees are subject to human weaknesses. So no need to rant this is too controversial or disrespectful. Just cue the track in your car stereo and floor it! (Just kidding.)" He goes on to say that music "is a healthy type of chaos, a full three steps away from a destructive kind. Using lyrical phrases, music best introduces a topic for a constructive discussion...music, video, and book, rely heavily and healthily on symbolism..." He notes that "since the time of Gore's PMRC b.s., music and the related arts have been abused and downright stolen from the people of the world, IMHO. Perhaps, though, the Computer Age will help the people have their arts and sciences restored."

(You can read S.W. Wilcox's inspirational journey, including information about his book, Bards of Fantasia, HERE)

S.W. Wilcox mentions PMRC, The Parents Music Resource Center, an American committee that was formed in 1985. The group released a list of songs they found objectionable, including Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It". Dee Snider famously testified before the U.S. Senate to defend one of the band's songs. Years later, in his article "1985 PMRC/Senate Hearings: Then and Now" he wrote: "I did welcome the opportunity to show the PMRC and the Senate subcommittee how you should not judge a book by its heavy-metal cover. Their indignant reactions to my  '80s rock-star look and their dropped jaws when I proceeded to take every one of their arguments apart were priceless." He also pointed out that years later, "everything and nothing has changed. The ultra-conservatives still want to dictate to the masses what they deem acceptable for the general public to see and hear..."

Forget the laws that you've been taught
We'll lock you up and let you rot!
We are the protectorate and we control the game
You fit our profile now do the walk of shame!

In a 2018 article titled "Don't Get It Twisted: 'We're Not Gonna Take It' Can Be Anyone's Protest Song", Rachel Martin wrote that when teachers in Oklahoma went on strike, their message "was amplified by a song - one that, 34 years earlier, had been the sound of student rebellion...was once named among the 'Filthy 15' songs singled out for offensive content and brought before Congress by concerned parents in the 1980s." In that testimony, Dee Snider had said: "The beauty of literature, poetry and music is that they leave room for the audience to put its own imagination, experiences and dreams into the words."

Criminalizing our population.
Turning us into a prison nation
Corruption and power go hand in hand,
Sent to devour the deeds of the damned
SERVE & PROTECT!

https://youtu.be/ko5wCF57lEg?si=ZDrnsuXG2ljrbJXO

Global Artivism Conference - September 2024

On September 5^th, 6^th and 7^th, I (Mildred Achoch) attended (virtually) the inaugural Global Artivism Conference which was held in Tshwane, Pretoria, South Africa. It was an entertaining, insightful, inspiring and encouraging three days and I look forward to the next one. Below are some outstanding quotes from the first session of Day 1 and the keynote address. The keynote was by Favianna Rodrigues and was titled “Art, Social Justice and the Radical Imaginary: An Art Talk”

“I give honour to the sacredness of all the journeys which have brought us to this moment where we are gathered here…” – Louisa Zondo (22:20)

“…we also have to create ideas, ideas for the future. We need that novel that is going to help us think different, we need that film…” – Favianna Rodrigues (42:52)

“The African struggle for dignity and freedom, in the mainland and in the diaspora, is unimaginable without the contribution of Motown, Jazz, the Blues, Reggae, Hiphop…” – Professor Maluleke (13:45)

“We must address the scourge of poverty, inequality, corruption, gender-based violence, deteriorating mental health and well-being and the imminent threat of climate change. We must push for the end of genocide…” – Louisa Zondo (28:12)

“…only art and purposeful activism can help us RE-member our broken relationships, broken relationships between humans, broken relationships between men and women, between humans and the environment, between the body, the mind and the soul.” Professor Maluleke (16:41)

“…we are in a battle for the imagination, we are in a battle for understanding history and the impacts of history…” – Favianna Rodrigues (37:22)

“…we acknowledge that our histories connect all of us in many ways, including the tyrannies of colonization, oppression, inequality, marginalization and violence yet we in South Africa know that our liberation depended partly on the solidarity we received from people all over the world.” – Louisa Zondo (27:25)

“We as artists…we have to fight for justice and peace, that is what it means to be an artivist…” – Favianna Rodrigues (46:14)

 “In the beginning, there was art…” – Professor Maluleke (11:44)

You can watch the Day 1 sessions on YouTube:

 

For more information, visit www.globalartivism.com

Sustaining An Ongoing Commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Through Active Collaboration - Imaginable Futures fireside chat

On June 28th, 2023, I (Mildred Achoch) attended a virtual fireside chat titled “Sustaining An Ongoing Commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Through Active Collaboration” organized by Imaginable Futures. At the end of this very insightful and educational session, I asked a question related to mental health and activism (minute 46:20). Imaginable Futures summarized the panelists answers at the end of their post about the event. You can read their responses HERE and watch the entire session HERE.

"Show me your budget and I'll show you what you value." (Minute 45:54)

Interview: Mildred Achoch and Orlando Greenhill of Black History of Rock n Roll

On 18th November 2023, I had the great honour of being interviewed by Orlando Greenhill of Black History of Rock n Roll. Below is the transcript of the first few minutes.

0:01:46 – Mildred Achoch

I got into rock music through country music. My dad had an amazing record collection with the usual: Elvis Presley, Charlie Pride, Skeeter Davis. And then, around 1998, this radio station FM radio station the first ever in Kenya opened and then it just introduced us to a whole new world of rock. It was soft rock, it was more pop, but I mean, for someone who had never experienced this kind of music, I found it amazing. You know, bands like U2, all those great 90s bands. 

 (NOTE: Capital FM begun in 1996)

And then, around 2004, I started a Yahoo group. Remember Yahoo? Yeah, I started a Yahoo group called Kenya Rocks because I just wanted to connect with other people who like rock music. I thought I was the only one in this country who loved rock music, because that time the Internet was very new and so we were not connected to each other. So I started that Yahoo group and, slowly by slowly, I got to know other rock fans in Kenya. Many of them actually went on to form bands.

 

 

  ROFFEKE Conference: Daniel Kobimbo - Blogger at Heavy and the Beast
In this session of #roffekeconference Daniel Kobimbo gives an overview of the #Kenyanrock scene beginnings and who inspired him to do what he does today.

I must give a shout out to Rash. It's a band that came much later, in 2013, but they're celebrating their 10th anniversary today. They're actually having a show as we speak. So hi, Rash, congratulations! In that Yahoo group there were also members of Murfy’s Flaw, Last Year's Tragedy. Last Year’s Tragedy are also performing at that Rash show today. 

 

And then 2008, Facebook. We all decided to go over to Facebook and so I stopped, you know, the Yahoo group. I was also going through some life changes, so I stopped the Yahoo group. But then at that time I had already gotten this idea for a film festival that showcased rock music so that's how ROFFEKE came about. It's rock and roll film festival Kenya, but I pronounce it Rafiki, and the mission is just to promote rock music in Kenya via film. Because I love film. I am actually a screenwriter by profession and I love rock music. So it was just natural to combine the two. And that's what I've been doing for the past - is it 10, 15 years? I enjoy it, it's a passion. I'm not making loads of money out of this, I'm just passionate about it. And now I'm intentionally concentrating more about educating people that, you know, rock music is not mzungu music. Mzungu is Swahili for white man.

                            The African Roots of Rock 'n' Roll - A poem by Diego Serebrennik
 

0:05:44

It's still a difficult thing to convince people of because the media just shows the white side of rock music. So when you tell someone, no, no, it came from black gospel music and blues, people don't really connect easily, but it's just a passion of mine. I enjoy history and music history also. So I'll just keep on doing it. I'll keep on doing it as long as I can because I love it. 

                Kenya Taifu Letu (Kenya Our Country) composed by Gideon Victor Mwanyigha
 

0:09:07

We are also dealing with the effects of colonialism. We were colonized by the British so anything that remotely smells of the white man is usually not accepted readily by some people.

I always say, you don't have to like rock music. You're actually free to hate rock music, but please hate it for the right reasons. Just hate it because you don't like it. Don't hate it because you think it's white man's music or because it's the devil's music or because it's just noise. Those are wrong reasons. Hate it because it's not your preference. That's a very valid reason not to like rock music.

So yeah, it's an uphill task but I enjoy it. I learn something new every day. There’s so much history that I don't know. I thought I knew but I clearly don't know. And when I check out some of your posts I realize that well, I mean, it could not be helped because we only had access to corporate media and we only heard what was in corporate media. But I like what you're doing because I get to learn about all these other black bands. I saw a very recent post, I think you posted it today, about a black glam rock band. I did not know that there was such a band in that particular genre. Yeah, it's always fun to find out these things. Not to get too philosophical but I think part of it is healing for us who were colonized and slave trade and all that stuff. I think it's a healing process just to find out that this beautiful music, this powerful music, we had something to do with it. In my opinion, I think it's very healing.

(Transcript generated by Podium.page, edited by Mildred Achoch)

You can watch the entire interview HERE

Interview: Martin H. Samuel - Award-winning songwriter born in Kenya

Mildred Achoch: We met via allpoetry.com. You commented regarding my contest "The African Roots of Rock ‘n' Roll": 'Pleased to virtually meet a fellow Kenyan… I was born in Mombasa, started playing drums at an early age and proud of my band's commemorative brick, 20 rows directly above 'John', in the Liverpool Cavern Club Wall of Fame.'

Apart from your memories of being abducted by a monkey and enjoying the spectacle of flamingos in Nakuru, what other memories do you have of Kenya, especially memories related to music?

MARTIN H. SAMUEL: Some time after the monkey episode, we visited Lake Victoria where I waded out 'til the water was over my head and my Mother had to rescue me as my Father, who wasn't afraid of crocodiles, couldn't swim!

In Nairobi, as we lived nearby what was then known as the Coryndon Museum, I went there frequently and met Mary and Louis Leakey who invited me into their laboratory to show me what they were working on.

How cool was that!

The couple asked me (and my pals) to collect anything that hopped, skipped, jumped or crawled, which we did, and donated to what was to become the Nairobi Snake Park.

Other than my first gig as a drummer in kindergarten, my musical memories of Kenya have unfortunately faded... except for... when I was in the cubs, one 5th of November, Nairobi-born Roger Whittaker was hired to entertain the pack.

We were seated on the ground around him (having 'dibbed' and 'dobbed') and after each song I would light a coloured firework-type phosphorous match ~ on which he commented.

I may even have started the later trend of flicking lighters at concerts!

Mildred: You started playing drums at an early age. Was that a natural inclination or were you encouraged by a mentor?

Martin: Definitely a natural... I always knew I was a drummer.

Not only do I have as close to perfect time as any man can have, I can play differing tempos with my hands and feet at the same time and keep them in time (or not).

It's totally useless unless considered some odd form of jazz!

No mentor per se but, as a kid, I learned orchestration, such as it was, by jamming with the locals who taught me not to 'step on the toes', musically-speaking, of other musicians.

In other words, play your part, nothing more nothing less, at the correct time, never earlier nor later and, especially, if it's not called for, don't play.

Mildred: Good advice! Did your parents encourage you and if so, how? Was there anyone who discouraged you from playing drums and how did you deal with that?

Martin: No encouragement at all in the beginning... years later, they bought me my first and second drum set.

Being ambidextrous, I set my first drums up right-handed but left-footed!

When I saw a photo of Ringo behind the drums with The Beatles I thought, 'Something looks odd here' and switched mine to right-footed.

Only to find out, Ringo is left-handed but plays a right-handed drum kit.

At first, my parents were disappointed in my career choice but, as I explained to them, it's not a 'choice', it's a 'calling'... you either have it or you don't.

Mildred: Why was your band (Heatwave) honoured specifically at the Liverpool Cavern Club Wall of Fame?

Martin: The original Cavern Club honoured every Artist who 'walked the boards' (performed there) between certain years and, having played there for an entire week in 1970, we received our very own personal brick.  By coincidence, our lead guitarist was from Liverpool.

Mildred: You were interviewed by Frank Carlyle on the Frank Carlyle Show in 2016. You recounted your experience playing again at the Cavern Club, saying that you couldn't quite remember exactly how the songs went but you gave it your own unique spin and played your version, and that ultimately, it was about having fun. ROFFEKE's motto is "Friendship, Fun, Freedom". In your opinion, how important is it to have fun, not only in playing music or pursuing any other passion but also in life in general?

Martin: The band leader, whom I'd not met before, kicked off every song without telling me what the band was about to play... it may be a tradition as, in my experience, drummers are not considered musicians!

I had heard most of the songs and had even played some previously, but it was all so long ago, however, we must have sounded OK as the dance floor filled instantly on every song and even the doorman abandoned his position and came downstairs to listen.

It is my belief we're all born with a built-in 'Fun Meter' which should be checked fairly frequently as, if we're not having fun, what's the point?!

One should not expect 'said meter to constantly be in the red (Fun zone) but, if it rarely is, then something needs to be changed for the better.

That writ, I wrote a silly song called 'Fun With You': 

Also, a song about Freedom: eclipse-cd.bandcamp.com/track/freedom-is-a-cruel-mistress.

Mildred: According to your LinkedIn profile, you have won many songwriting competitions. What's your secret?

Martin: Dedication, determination, persistence, a way with words (as a lyricist) and a 'good ear'.

Tightrope to the moon

Man on a ledge

Mildred: Any tips for budding songwriters?

Martin: Follow your heart, do what floats your boat (even if you're landlocked).

If a composer writes for anyone/anything but him/herself, he/she's doomed him/herself to disappointment... even then, when writing for oneself, there's no guarantee you'll be appreciated or recognised.

Rick Nelson said it best in 'Garden Party'... "You can't please everyone so you got to please yourself."

Co-writing, as I have done and still do, is a major plus as two, or more, heads and hearts can (sometimes) be better than one.

e.g., Lennon & McCartney, Bacharach & David, Goffin & King, Gilmour & Waters, Holland–Dozier–Holland, Jagger & Richards, Leiber & Stoller (some of my favourite songwriters).

If any Kenyan composer cares to collaborate, I'm always up for co-writing.

Mildred: In your opinion, what makes a great song?

A lyric the audience can relate to/identify with, or tells a good story and a memorable melody over a catchy beat.

Mildred: What would you say are your top ten favourite songs of all time?

Martin: Aaaaagghhhhh!!!!!

OK, here's five of mine followed by five by others... in alphabetical order: 

'Can't Stay Mad', written/recorded solo and aired on the BBC. 

'Heart Full Of Love', co-written with and recorded by Lisa Nemzo. 

'If Love Makes The World Go Round', co-written with John Franta, recorded by Brion Bell. 

'Slave To The Grind', written about my Father who worked for E.A.R. & H. and my Mother, secretary to the Speaker of the House in Nairobi Parliament, co-written with Brian Hadley.

‘Be My Rock’, co-written with Renard Cohen, recorded by Ms. Nancy Reed: 

'A Whiter Shade Of Pale', co-written by Brooker & Reid (and Johann Sebastian Bach), recorded by Procol Harum.

'Over The Rainbow', co-written by Arlen & Harburg, sung by Judy Garland.

'She's Leaving Home', co-written by Lennon & McCartney, recorded by The Beatles.

'Sultans of Swing', by Mark Knopfler, recorded by Dire Straits.

'Time', co-written by Waters, Gilmour, Wright & Mason, recorded by Pink Floyd.

Mildred: Your views on artificial intelligence?

Martin: The name says it all... artificial!

No thank you.

Referring to AI, Alan Turing, 'Grandfather' of the computer, said, "If a machine is expected to be infallible, it cannot also be intelligent."

I believe the reverse is also true, 'If a machine is expected to be intelligent, it cannot also be infallible.'

Mildred: Any tips or advice for Kenyan rock bands?

Martin: Draw on local music and make it your own – e.g., if Paul Simon had not visited South Africa, he may never have heard and used their rhythm(s).

Do it for love, as in a labour of, or don't do it at all.

Links to me and some of my music:

Heatwave: (Here and Here)

Bright Eye Band: (Here, Here and Here) 

Sunny 'n' the Cut: (Here) 

Africa Day, Africans Rising, Borderless Africa, Mastercard Edtech event at Ihub, African Diaspora

On 25th May, Africa Day is celebrated in Africa and all over the world. I first celebrated it in May 2019, when I attended “Google’s Africa Day Outreach: Creative Bootcamp” at Nairobi Garage. 

    

I'm in the purple checked sweater.

In 2023, ROFFEKE celebrated Africa Day with Africans Rising under the theme of “Borderless Africa”. The ROFFEKE Borderless Africa YouTube playlist features short films and music videos submitted to ROFFEKE since 2015, that have been created by or feature Africans in the continent or in the diaspora. 

The Kilimanjaro Declaration 2.0 was adopted on 31st August 2022 in Arusha Tanzania. In the declaration, the 2022 All African Movement Assembly (AAMA) declared that:

1. Africa is a rich continent, and her wealth belongs to all her people. We commit to fight for economic justice qualified by socio-political development.

2. Africans have a diverse, rich, and powerful heritage that is important to heal ourselves and repair the damage done by neoliberalism to our humanity and environment. Being Africans and embracing African philosophies such as “Ubuntu” are sources of our pride.

3. African youth and women are a critical foundation for building the success of our continent and must play a central role in building the Africa We Want for Unity, Justice, Peace and Dignity. We are committed to building an intergenerational dialogue and strategic collaboration with our elders to advance a shared vision.

4. Africa’s diaspora, whether displaced through slavery and colonialism or part of modern-day migration occasioned by political, economic and climate change factors, is part of Africa’s history and future. We commit to ensure that their reservoir of knowledge, skills, resources and passion are part of advancing Africa.

Also on Africa Day, I attended (virtually) an event titled “The African Diaspora, Trade, and Investment Symposium”. The event’s YouTube video description: “This #AfricaDay, OECD Development Centre and Minnesota Africans United are gathering investors, policy makers and diasporic groups, to share examples of the many ways African #diasporas engage in private sector development to the benefit of both “mother” and “new” home countries.”

The next day, on 26th May, I attended Mastercard Foundation’s EdTech event that was held at iHub. In the past, iHub has played a role in helping ROFFEKE achieve its mission of promoting rock music in Kenya via film. In September 2015, ROFFEKE held a screening of short films and music videos at iHub. Read some of the attendees' comments HERE. 

ROFFEKE is passionate about education. On January 24th 2023, ROFFEKE commemorated Education Day with a document highlighting the knowledge shared by ROFFEKE alumni from all over the world. On January 24tth 2022, ROFFEKE commemorated Education Day with a report highlighting the hashtag #edumental which ROFFEKE first used at an Education Day event on January 20th, 2020, right before the pandemic. In that report, I wrote: 

“Why is ROFFEKE – a rock film festival – interested in education? There are many reasons but in short, education is part of the objectives of ROFFEKE. Also, education plays a crucial role in the achievement of ROFFEKE’s mission: to promote rock music in Kenya via film by dispelling rock ‘n’ roll myths and misconceptions.”

The main objectives of ROFFEKE are:

1. To showcase local and international rock ‘n’ roll films and music videos for the purposes of education and entertainment.

2. To organize workshops, forums and seminars related to various aspects of rock music and the film industry.

3. To provide a platform for emerging and established, local and international rock bands.

The Mastercard Foundation Edtech event was inspiring. I sat through the first few presentations by talented Edtech startups namely Snapplify, Easy Elimu, Funky Science, Silabu, Elewa, Arifu and Virtual Essence. Clearly, a lot is being done by Kenyan entrepreneurs to tackle the challenges of education in Kenya and Africa.

Later, as I was reflecting on all these events, I could not help but connect the dots. One speaker at The African Diaspora Trade and Investment Symposium, Christopher Brooks, is a venture capitalist of African descent with a passion for Africa. He pointed out that he was on the lookout for projects he could invest in. I strongly believe that the projects I saw during the Mastercard Foundation Edtech event are ripe for this kind of Afro-cenric investment. Christopher said:

“I have a bias when it comes to this kind of conversation. We invest in tech. We invest in tech specifically because it scales quickly, creates enormous value quickly and then when there is some sort of liquidity event or exit, you can redeploy the gains and it just becomes this ever-expanding economic pie. I’m a big believer in tech. Africa is actually producing right now some of the world’s best innovative technologies. (From minute 49:22 to 49:50)

At this African Diaspora Trade and Investment Symposium, I was inspired by all that the diaspora is doing to help Africa. However, as an African in Africa who sees a lot of opportunities in the “motherland” I begun feeling uncomfortable with the narrative of Africans always being recipients of aid, even if it is from fellow Africans. I asked via the Zoom Q and A feature: How can Africans also help Africans in the diaspora?

In the chat, I made a small contribution that challenged the narrative that African youth only want government jobs. While it is true that many Africans look to government jobs due to the stability they offer, many African youth are entrepreneurial, as evidenced by the Mastercard Foundation Edtech event. I pointed out in the chat that many Africans are interested in and are active in the creative economy.

“The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism triumphs in the West and fails everywhere else” by Hernando de Soto was mentioned by Christopher Brooks. He said: “What I learned as I read that book was that talent is equally distributed among the human population but opportunity is not.” (From minute 40: 49 to 41:08)

I would argue that even this lack of many opportunities in Africa…is actually an opportunity!

Christopher Brooks went on to say: “Our venture capital firm has the goal of creating a world where transformation capital is accessible to all not just to some so that is how we invest. We find really great entrepreneurs of colour with really great ideas and we deploy strategic capital in the right amount at the right time to help those entrepreneurs scale their businesses and eventually exit their businesses creating brand new economic value." (From minute 42:52 to 43:17)

He also said: “I wanna actually go a couple of layers deeper than the current conversation. When Africans were imported to America as slaves, we were told, we black people, were told that we were not fully human. America told black people that they were three-fifths human, and that meta-narrative of less than human has been indoctrinated in people throughout American history." 

(Check out "ROFFEKE University: Lesson 1 - Slave Trade, The Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll" and “Of 'African' Products and 'Mzungu' Music”)

"So one of the things that we must do, we all must, even members of the diaspora, must examine our worldview and ask ourselves, do we really believe that talent is equally distributed across the world, because in many nations, especially developed nations, we’ve been taught that talent is not equally distributed. We’ve taken this darwinistic approach, survival of the fittest, and we’ve basically said that the developed nations are the fittest, the nations that are developing or less developed are not as fit, are not as smart, are not as good, and that is just diabolical and patently untrue. I think the root, the foundation of any solution that has to do with the continent of Africa must be, Africans are brilliant. Africans are capable. Africans are investment-ready. Africans have the best solutions for Africa. If we really believe that, even those of us who are members of the diaspora, we will continue to tap into the genius of the African people that live on the African continent and we will build a better society because it will be deeply informed by those who live and breathe the African air every single day. That’s how we at Brown Venture Group and that’s how I as an individual investor and practitioner look at the world and that’s how I’m approaching the work. The best solutions for Africa come from Africa.” - Christopher Brooks. (From minute 1:06:14 to 1:08:00)

Of "African" Products and "Mzungu" Music

In an entrepreneurship forum I recently attended, one participant was quite vocal about the need for entrepreneurs to provide African goods and services. This brings up the question I always ask myself whenever I come across concepts such as “Kenyan film” or “Kenyan story” or “buy Kenyan”.

Are Kenyan or African goods and services those created and sold by Kenyans/Africans or are they only those that are uniquely Kenyan or African? Is an African entrepreneur who deals with smartphones made in China, providing African goods and services? Does the foreign nature of the goods/services he provides disqualify him from being categorized as an African entrepreneur? What about an African agri-entrepreneur who deals with genetically modified seeds? What about an African pharmacist who largely sells products created outside of Africa?

What about the European, American and Arab slave traders who were dealing with African “goods”? Were they African entrepreneurs?

African slaves were exchanged for foreign goods:

Trade Relations among European and African Nations.

The business of barter on the pre-colonial Gold Coast.

What about rock ‘n’ roll, whose roots can be traced to the slave trade mentioned above? Is rock ‘n’ roll an African product? Is rock ‘n’ roll made by an African still “mzungu” music? 

(Written by Mildred Achoch.)

Coda: "Jean-Baptiste Say pointed out in his own writings that it was entrepreneurs who sought out inefficient uses of resources and capital and moved them into more productive, higher yield areas. Simply put, entrepreneurs seek opportunities for profit and, by doing so, create new markets and fresh opportunities. By constantly disrupting the balance of competition, entrepreneurs prevent monopolies from forming and create a wide diversity of products that keep consumers consuming and producers producing."Source: Who Coined the Term 'Entrepreneur'? by Andrew Beattie. 

ROFFEKE UNIVERSITY: Lessons 1 - Slave Trade, The Blues and Rock 'n' Roll

“The history of rock and roll is a history of race, of gender, of class, of protest, and it is tied deeply into the structure and struggles that underlie society's foundations. From the protest music of the Vietnam War era to the boundary-pushing sexuality of David Bowie in the 70s to the dirty urban angst of the 90s, chronologically tracing the turning points in rock music is not so different than flipping through the pages of a textbook.” - Jeva Lange, “The most important class I ever took: Rock-and-roll history” #roffekeuniversity