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| Cross section of the poetry crowd at the Helsinki African Poetry Jam, Cafe Mascot |
Thursday the 16th of April was a special day for the celebration of Africa in Helsinki through the literal works of poetry.
The event was initiated by the Finnish poet, writer, broadcaster, hip hop artiste, Karri 'Paleface' Mietinen via Helsinki Poetry Connection, an organization that promotes poetry and poems in and around Helsinki.
The event which took place at the cafe Mascot attracted a full house of poetry enthusiasts and featured renowned African poets resident in Helsinki, they were, Doudou Touray from Gambia, Ike Ude-Chime from Nigeria, and Izai-zai Ernest Yikona from Zambia.
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| Top left: Izai-Zai Yikona, Top right: Ike Ude-Chime Bottom left: Karri 'Paleface' Mietinen, Bottom right: Doudou Touray |
Another highlight of the event was the performance of the young Moroccan rap artiste, , El Haqued who has been over the years tormented by the Moroccan authorities due to his rap lyrics which they find uncomfortable.
El Haqued has been in and out of jail because he challenged the powers that be. He was recently aided by some Finnish NGO to relocate to Finland.
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| Moroccan Rap Artiste, El Haqued doing his stuff |
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| Doudou Touray in action |
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| Ike Ude-Chime in action |
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| Izai-Zai 'Papa Zai' Yikona in action |
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| Paleface rocking the crowd |
Very positive feed back was received from the large crowd that turned out for the event. Many wished that there will be more of such events in the future.
Etelä Suomen Media interviews Ike Chime
