Omar Pene, 50 years of civic engagement

Omar Pene at RFI.

© Joe Farmer/RFI

By: Joe Farmer Follow

3 mins

In 1972, the young Omar Pene joined the Kadd Orchestra which would soon become the Super Diamono de Dakar, one of the emblematic formations of "The Epic of Black Music".

Half a century has passed and the verve of the famous Senegalese singer has not faded.

Omar Pene continues to denounce the inconsistencies of our boiling world.

His latest album

 is driven by sincere convictions asserted with force.

Conversing with this wise and determined man is a privilege and a lesson in humanity.

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Omar Pene is a voice that counts, an enlightened mind, an essential figure of the African continent whose words have meaning and inspire our 20th century. For 50 years he has been singing this message of peace, unity and tolerance, to which we should all subscribe.

 is a new appeal to young people from which he hopes a real boost. He campaigns for global awareness because, even if the younger generation seems to want to take their destiny into their own hands, they are still too deaf to the advice of the elders. The word of the elders is no longer listened to. The inattention of young Africans to the warnings of adults makes it impossible to effectively transmit an experience and an immediately understandable message. 

Education is the key to our common future. Omar Pene firmly believes in it and considers, like Nelson Mandela once, that education is a weapon against all violence and terrorist excesses. Its universalist aspirations are not new. Already on the album

 in 2009, he envisaged the unity of the African continent in the title

.

Admittedly, pan-Africanism seems like wishful thinking in the face of political upheaval and migration crises, but Omar Pene's commitment resists and the dream of a better world continues to fuel his activism.

For this, he tirelessly promotes some notions and human values ​​useful for personal development.

It encourages work rather than idleness.

This recommendation may seem simplistic but it could solve many problems on this planet, he says in the watermark of the title 

. 

Omar Pene in 2022. © Contre Jour

To hammer home his point, Omar Pene surrounded himself with excellent musicians including guitarist Hervé Samb who composed most of the

repertoire .

Note also the presence of bassist Alune Wade, trombonist Pierre Chabrele and percussionist Alioune Seck, among others... All that was missing was the voices of Julia Sarr and Faada Freddy to magnify this very exciting record.

The title

 also reveals the real harmonic skills of the former pillar of the group Daara J who poetically poetizes this pamphlet against slander. 

In 2022, Omar Pene will not fail to celebrate his jubilee by organizing concerts and other joyful festivities which we will obviously echo on our antenna.

Long live!

⇒

.

Omar Pene in the studio at RFI.

© Joe Farmer/RFI

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