This week’s reading introduces work by Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, titled War, Genocide, and Justice: Cambodian American Memory Work. In Chapter 4 of “Lost Chapters and Invisible Wars: Hip-Hop and Cambodian-American Critique”, we are introduced to a Khmer-American rapper named praCh. His family escaped the war between the Khmer Rouge and Vietnam to a Thai refugee camp in the 1980’s. Eventually, they were able to immigrate to the U.S. and settled in Southern California. praCh uses music to speak about the past, the struggles of his upbringing and family, and about the Cambodian-American experience. In praCh’s track, “Child of the Killing Fields”, he remembers the Cambodian genocide:
“I love my land to death,
a child of the killing fields.
now I’m on a quest,
for the truth to reveal,
cuz I still feel the pain”
It demonstrates just how important music can be as a source of expression and healing. praCh
utilizes hip-hop to remember his country and the people who were lost during the regime. Once again, this is incredibly important because history books barely touch on the Khmer Rouge and Vietnam, and music allows history to be told from a personal narrative. It allows for fellow Cambodian-Americans to connect, and it also exposes more people to what had happened.
Question: Why aren’t there more mainstream Asian-American artists in the industry, especially when they are producing music about issues that matter to the community?
No comments:
Post a Comment