“People pick up your responsibility, before another child picks up a gun, you can make a difference, believe me I know, I know”
- Emmanuel Jal
Emmanule Jal’s life has been centered around two unlikely and major events; his childhood as a child soldier in Sudan and his teenage years going around the world as a rap star raising awareness. Emmanuel Jal has a story to tell and a war to fight. He does so, brilliantly, through his lyrics.
Emmanuel was born in Sudan. When he was only seven years old, he saw civil war ravage his country and claim his mother's life; subsequently, his father joined the army. Finding himself all alone, Emmanuel decided to migrate to Ethiopia with other children, in the hope of finding shelter and receiving an education there. However, he never saw this dream realized: Emmanuel was forcefully taken to a military training camp in the Ethiopian bush. These camps were disguised as schools for the international agencies stationed there, but behind closed doors the children were being taught how to fight a war they couldn’t even understand.
As young as the age of eight, Emmanuel was forced to learn how to use an AK-47 rifle - a favorite among military commanders. This weapon is widely used among child soldiers around the world: it is light enough to be carried by children, but also deadly and effective enough to kill several people as it fires 600 rounds per minute. There is no way to describe what young Emmanuel went through during these years of intensive training sessions, blood baths, disease and cannibalism. Not to mention the emotional and mental trauma he endured.
Emmanuel has found his voice in rap music. He uses his experiences in Ethiopia as inspiration for his lyrics. “I’m a war child,” he claims, and he wants to use his life to save other innocent and lonely armed children. Emmanuel fights in a very different way: this time through song. He has laid down his weapons, but he now fights for peace among the opposing sides of Sudan. Emmanuel doesn’t want to be seen as a victim; he still regrets many of the things he did as war child but also believes that he was “forced to sin.”
After several years as a child soldier going through struggle and having to see many of his friends die, Emmanuel couldn’t take it any longer and along with other children he managed to escape from the grip of his commanders. He arrived to a refugee camp were he meet Emma McCune, a British Aid worker. Emma, who had rescued over 150 child soldiers, managed to smuggle Emmanuel into Kenya for a better life. Sadly, during this time Emma died in a road accident leaving Emmanuel lost and alone.
While he was living in the slums, Emmanuel learned about Christianity and found strength and hope in religion. Through the Christian community Emmanuel started going to school. In this time of tranquility, he was able to find his purpose in life. He stated: “I believe I survived for a reason, to tell my story to touch lives.” His parish encouraged his music and even raised money for his first video clip to go online. Shortly after, his single “All we need is Jesus” was a huge hit in Kenya and received air play in the UK. This was the beginning of his road to stardom.
"My raps are a decision, rabble rousing, spiritual, like gospel music. I don't want to dance. We have so many things to deal with, we need to talk straight up and down."
-Tupac Shakur
It seems inevitable to compare young Emmanuel with one of the world’s best selling and most influential rap artists, Tupac Shakur. Both rappers, have experienced struggles, and both want to inspire change through their music. Emmanuel is not only an inspiratiion for war soldiers, but for those who thought that rap has long lost itself in insignificant raps about money cars and women. Another great fighter through music has been Bob Marley. When an undeveloped country is being mislead by its rulers music is the only way to let people know and start a revolution.
Emmanuel Jal’s career has been one of success. He has released three albums, and has carved out for himself a solid place in the music industry. He even collaborated for the soundtrack of the acclaimed and controversial movie “Blood Diamond”; a project which was very close to his heart, considering his past as a child soldier. However, in spite of his success, he has never forgotten his mission to aid children who are trapped in a life of warfare and destruction, and who have been robbed of their innocence. Emmanuel collaborates with several different non-profit organizations as well as his own, GUA which focuses directly on the disarmament of children in Sudan.
The latest project Emmanuel has been involved in has been a movie directed by Karim Chroboy, called “War Child.” In it Emmanuel tells his story and goes back to Sudan and Ethiopia visiting the places he lived in. The movie has a had great acceptance and has won many awards such as The Audience Choice Award at the Tribeca Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Bologna International Film Festival.
Emmanuel desperately wants to raise awareness for child-soldiering. As a guest speaker at Georgetown University he told his story and made a special remark on the importance of arms control, which he believes is the first step towards peace. “Kenya, Sudan, Ethipia, part of Uganda and Congo, there are people who have guns and their work is to go and raid villages and take their properties, that’s because those arms are not controlled… and who are the suppliers of those guns? And how those people get the guns? That’s the issue I’m looking at”
Emmanuel Jal is still very young although he is not sure of how old he actually is; with a childhood like his it’s difficult to keep track of time. But one thing is sure: this young man has many goals and is determined to tell his story and use it to disarm as many child soldiers as he can.
“The best investment, is to invest in someone’s life… and the next best investment is to invest in someone spiritually because when there world crashes and no one wants to pick there phone calls, or no one wants to open the door, they can rely on a supreme being that can heal them and give them peace.”
