I remember sitting in my college classroom wondering what was to be of my future.
It was in that moment that I received an e-mail from Joanna Duarte Laudon that left me with my eyes wide open. I was presented with an opportunity of a lifetime. Che Kothari, the Executive Director of Manifesto, had invited me to join Manifesto as a videographer and assisting translator on a cultural learning exchange to Bogota, and Medellin, Colombia supported by Toronto Community Foundation, Schools Without Borders, and Aeroplan. I jumped at my keyboard to reply to his invitation and agree to join. I left my cell phone number in my reply and waited to be accepted. All I could think about was if this opportunity would be mine. After spending the afternoon preparing myself in case it was, I received a call from Che. I was ecstatic, I didn’t know what to expect. He then introduced himself, the objectives of the trip, and told me the tickets had been booked with one of them belonging to me. We would be going down to Colombia to meet with and learn from community and youth organizers. I was overwhelmed with joy and surprise. After many years of absence I was returning to my home country to work in my passions of music and media. Che told me that we had a long future together ahead of us....and to give thanks.

The day of our departure, I met Che for the first official time. I had met Che informally the first time at the 2011 Stylus Spinfest Conference when I signed up for a 5 minute mentor session with him. We talked about the future of the culture industry in Toronto and about Hip Hop in Colombia. Little did I know this would be a prelude to our adventure.

We rushed around the city getting last minute additions of extra equipment; lights, flashes, and lenses. We worried that we wouldn’t make it on time to our flight. In our rush to our flight’s gate we had already had started connecting with Colombia. We met with two Colombian-Canadians, one on his way to Colombia for the same festival we would attend in Bogota, and another who owns a recording studio in Toronto. Luckily, we made it just in time for last minute boarding. What a relief. We had six hours until we arrived in Bogota from Toronto.

Our journey had already begun.

We arrived in Bogota in the evening. I was already getting inspired just from the conversations on the plane with Che. At the El Dorado airport we were welcomed by Don Popo, a founder of Fundacion Familia Ayara (Ayara Family Foundation), an award winning Non Governmental Organization that creates social change through Hip-Hop. Don Popo and Che had been reunited. They had first met in Toronto at the Ignite the Americas Youth Forum in 2008 which Che was Executive Director of and Don Popo was invited to as an industry expert. It was then that they began a friendship and partnership with goals to connect their movements. We were now in Bogota to follow through with those plans. We traveled to his home that evening and connected with him through discussion of the trip’s objectives and sharing of personal stories. I then realized who were staying with, one of the originators of Hip Hop in Colombia. Don Popo was a part of Gotas De Rap, the first group to publish a Hip Hop tape on a major label in Colombia. I couldn’t believe it. I was amongst hip hop history.  We settled in, and prepared for our full schedule week in Bogota.

The following day we received a personal tour of the offices and cultural centre of Fundacion Ayara with an explanation of their values, mission statement, and methodology. We interviewed many of their staff and artists to learn how this organization instigates culture and community development. I learned that the Latin Grammy Award winning Hip Hop group, ChocQuibTown, began their career through this organization. I felt so embraced by what we were learning because my first ever published interview was with this group.

We then set off to our next stop. We visited a youth prison where Ayara runs one of their social programs. I got the chills when we arrived. I had never been in a prison before. I was asked to not film throughout our time in the facility. I got emotionally touched when I saw the pain and struggle in the hearts of the youth here. We joined in on workshops with the youth by doing break-dancing, freestyle rapping, and art sharing. In our freestyle circle, Che dropped his first ever freestyle! We also had the chance to say some words in front of the groups and it felt amazing to be able to make a difference. I had a long discussion with one the kids there and was deeply touched by his story. He told me he really liked my dreadlocks and wanted to get them done too but that he wasn’t able to do it because his hair would fall off from the stress he was under. We talked about the importance of strong values, discipline, friendship, and the difficulties of abuse, violence, and negative experiences. Although we came from different walks of life, we related through our pain from past struggles.

We then drove up to the hills to one of the highest points of Bogota, where we would attend the first concert in the series of events of the Festival Hip Hop Al Parque 2011 (Hip Hop In the Park Festival 2011). We were warmly greeted by the organizers and welcomed backstage. As I was filming I noticed that in the years I had been away from Colombia the Hip Hop scene had grown immensely. It differed from the scene in Canada. In Colombia, the music and the lifestyle resembled what Hip Hop was like in the 80’s and 90’s in NYC. The crowd filled the stands and the energy was strong. The youth showed their presence in high numbers for their voice to be heard. The organizers invited the mayor of the city to conduct a speech and sign a contract agreeing to work with the hip hop community. The youth wanted a solution to the issue of not being treated with respect by citizens and police officers and not having enough access to social programs. I was taken back for a second when this happened. The youth were using Hip Hop as a medium of resistance and civic action. This type of youth movement is something I wish I would see happen more in Toronto and learned that Manifesto was working hard to make that reality possible.

The festival went on for two days more after this concert. We attended each of the two days - Manifesto Team in full effect. Che wore the Zulu Nation medallion Afrika Bambaataa gave to him and was approached by many artists and fans asking for explanations of what the Zulu Nation stood for. We explained to the people that it was an international Hip Hop awareness movement spreading things like knowledge, wisdom, peace, unity, justice, truth, love, respect and safely having fun.  We spent our days connecting with the press, watching local and national performers during the day, and international headlining performers at night. On the night of the main event we saw 80,000 fans in attendance go wild and pump their fists to performances by Lords of The Underground, Dilated Peoples, and Vico C (considered one of the godfathers of Latino hip-hop). This concert was the highest attended Hip Hop festival we had ever been to.

"It's [Colombian Hip-Hop] one of the biggest scenes in the world, and it should be respected for that"
- Dilated Peoples

In our three remaining days in Bogota we had the opportunity to be given a tour of the neighbourhood where hip hop started in Bogota, in it's most dangerous neighbourhood, Las Cruzes. We were told that in this neighbourhood you were either a rapper or you were a dealer. Hip Hop was an escape here. We were guided by a respected individual in the neighbourhood. If we had not been with him, we would not have been welcome. When we pulled out our equipment to do a photo shoot with Don Popo, people in the streets yelled at us to put it away because of the danger. While I was filming behind the scenes of the shoot, I was approached by police officers on a motorcycle who urged us to leave the area. They insisted that we move because the word that we were there would get around quick now that we had been spotted. They wanted to escort us but we refused. I started to get worried because I knew we had more dangerous locations as destinations in the future on our schedule. In the back of my mind I silenced my worries by telling myself I was experiencing something so valuable that it was worth the risk.

We took advantage of the time we had left in Bogota by meeting and interviewing local artists who had received international exposure, such as Rocca from Tres Coronas, and the group Voodoo Souljahs who had performed at Manifesto Festival in Toronto three times before. We met Voodo Souljahs at their home and shared a wonderful dinner together. For me it was a heart touching experience. I spoke with their singer Lia Samantha about the issue of racism in Colombia and how we could overcome it through music. We met Rocca at the Plaza Bolivar, which is the central square of the city, where the President can be found. Rocca spoke to us about his strong feelings against the state of Hip Hop in Colombia, and about how he wanted to see hip hop move forward in the direction of cultural appropriation consisting of Colombian musical roots. I was so fortunate to be able to meet and get the opinions of one my favourite artists of all time. All of these meetings and interviews helped us to deepen our understanding of the hip hop community and it's context in Colombia.

Our last day in Bogota was used to start building the foundation for an interchange of festivals between Canada and Colombia. We invited artists, publicists, producers, dancers, and designers to a presentation held at Fundacion Ayara. Che spoke to the crowd about the structure and methodology of Manifesto and what was successful about the model and shared its growth and evolution in Jamaica & Barbados. He expressed to the people in attendance that he encouraged the community in Bogota to strengthen its ties within itself and build a festival by the people without Manifesto intervening. It would simply provide models of structure, assistance, and support where requested or necessary. We connected with those in attendance and continued to build our network. Our objectives in Bogota were complete. We were now ready for Medellin.

I didn’t know what to expect from our visit in Medellin.

At first I wasn’t comfortable with going to the Comuna 13 marginalized neighbourhood in this city because of the countless stories I had heard from family and from the news of the turbulence of violence that occurs in this community. Che assured me that everything would be fine because at all times we would be with organizers who were respected for their positive work in the community. I trusted him and came along on the trip. I would soon come to realize that our trip to Medellin would be a personally transformative experience.

Our first objective was to meet with Jehhico, the head organizer of the Festival Revolucion Sin Muertos 7 (Revolution Without Death Festival #7), at a YMCA in the communas of Medellin. We received a really warm welcome. Everyone was really friendly with us. I felt like the negative stories I had heard of this community were not matching with my immediate perception and experience there. We were able to see first hand how the festival was structured, the process of receiving sponsorship and government funding, and learned the purpose of the festivals existence from the festival's political coordinator. We continued to interview Jehhico's logistics team, YMCA staff, artists and citizens of the area to once again get a deeper understanding of where we were, and were told the following. Comuna 13, San Javier, Medellin had been marked by its takeover by armed groups who controlled the narcotrafficing in Colombia. They strategically chose this location of Medellin to have access to the ocean via Panama for importing and exporting. In an attempt to take back Comuna 13 the Colombian government and military executed Operation Orion & Mariscal in 2002. The police and military entered the community with violent force using helicopters, tanks, and armed soldiers in effort to demobilize these urban militias. Many innocent people were killed in this operation. As a response of resistance from the community, Festival Revolucion Sin Muertos was born in the Comuna 13. Che and I felt that this festival was definitive of how a movement against injustice and of positivity should be carried out. This was a political protest music festival made by the people for the people, without the glitz and glamour.

The next two days we attended the festival and shot more interviews, footage and experienced how the festival worked operationally. It was amazing to see young artists from across Colombia come together with one unified message of peace, using the arts as a tool to share stories, reenact horrific things that happened to their people through artistic expressions and share truth. This festival is one that we knew we would never forget.

A gift made with love was presented to us by our friend, graffiti artist @Perograff. He had created a Manifesto mural in Medellin as a show of gratitude for us coming to see them.

This was only the beginning.
The transformation was about to begin.
We were brought up to one of the highest points of the Comuna 13 to the home of Son Bata. Son Bata is a collective run by community organizers. These community organizers are also a Petronio Alvarez Festival and Premio Shock (Shock Awards) winning Hip Hop group. In their music they blend AfroColombian music Chirimia with Hip Hop. In their community they hold workshops and events with the Afro-Colombian community to preserve their identity and culture. We visited their offices and cultural centre and connected. As the sun went down my worries started to increase. My worries urged me to leave to “safety”, but something inside of me told me to stay.  I decided to experience something I didn’t understand at the expense of my comfort. This would result in an experience of a lifetime.

We attended one of Son Bata’s workshops in a room with a large group of young Afro-Colombians. We ate their traditional cuisine with the lights off while watching a projector presentation on the wall with images of Son Bata’s success including their opening performance for Red Hot Chilli Peppers. These images meant more than just the individual success for Son Bata. Their success was a collective achievement in their community because of the inspiration it would instill in the youth. In my past interview with ChocQuibTown, I had this process explained to me. I was experiencing it first hand and it meant a lot to me to be live in the moment of influence. We proceeded to hear two teens talk in front of the group about their roots and about afro-diaspora in the world.  They talked about Hip Hop, Krump Dancing, and Baile Funk from Brazil, with a slide show presentation and all. Next thing I knew we were all invited to the rooftop of the centre for a dance presentation. We sat in a large group and watched about ten of the kids put on a highly impressive and energetic performance in all the afro-diasporic music styles they mentioned in the presentation before. While I was filming and watching the presentation,  I started to reminisce on the strong sense of community I deeply missed from Colombia that was present here that I couldn’t find in Canada after migrating. In the midst of my thoughts the leader of the dancers then announced they would switch things up a bit. He announced that I would be a part of their presentation. We were now having a dance battle. I jumped in the circle we gathered in and gave it my all. I felt the most alive I had felt in a long time. I was connecting and enjoying myself with complete strangers and it felt amazing.

Without warning, everyone packed up and went back downstairs.
I went into the room where I found myself facing AfroColombian drums.
I had never seen any in my life, only through pictures on the Internet.
I didn’t just see drums. I saw tradition, history, struggle, and identity of my people.
I had the feeling of desire come through me to play the drums to my hearts content.
I began playing a subtle hip hop rhythm and caught the attention of the people in the room. Heads starting bopping and a vibe was starting to form. Once again many of us gathered in a circle but this time a freestyle rap cypher had begun. The energy was building as more people joined the circle. Another person joined in on the beat with other drums, then another, and then another. The emcees, including Don Popo, would involve the crowd that emerged by getting them to repeat chants back to them. The energy was getting higher and was reaching a rhythmic climax. We picked the drums up off the ground and started dancing with the crowd. We would all run the left of the room and yell a chant, then run to the right side of the room and yell another. People in the area who weren't part of the workshop started joining us while others watched from the windows. We jammed for hours like this. I never in my life thought I would find myself doing something like this.

It was a fulfilling experience knowing I was a part of this cultural and community development session on that night. I was impacted and influenced directly from this experience. I shared my feeling of fulfillment with Che and he told me that this personal transformation of myself was part of his objectives on the trip.

We had completed our objectives of building and learning with community organizers in Colombia and were ready to bring back the knowledge to Toronto to connect with Latino Communities and build along the same visions we saw in Bogota and Medellin.

Transformation Complete.

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The next steps for this initiative include hosting a gathering/reasoning in Toronto in the next few weeks to share all of our experiences and networks (plus all of the visual art and music we received). Our aim is to build a bridge between Colombia and Canada to establish an exchange program in 2012 and to connect more with the Latino hip hop community in Toronto. Also be on the lookout for a mini documentary summary of this adventure that will be produced from the 400 Gigabytes of video that was recorded. Che Kothari and Andres Orbegozo will be live on Dos Mundos Radio CIUT 89.5 FM on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011 discussing Manifesto in Colombia.

Traducción en español estará disponible pronto

Photography and Video Still by Che Kothari, Andres Orbegozo & courtesy of organizers.

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**Please note that the opinions of Operation Orion & Mariscal are of the interviewees,
and do not reflect that of the interviewers or TheManifesto.ca