Spotlight On: Angelique Kidjo
ABOUT THIS WEEK’S SHERO IN THE SPOTLIGHT:
As we round the halfway mark of 2021, I want to take a moment to reflect on our first SHERO in the Spotlight Conversation of 2021. One of our goals with the year’s first episode was to set the tone for the new year by sharing a story of strength, resilience, and unshakeable belief in the power of music and of self. Now, six months after our conversation with Angelique Kidjo, we celebrate her with an encore airing of that episode, just in time for her 61st birthday on Wednesday, July 14th. She also just put out a new album Mother Nature. At the time of the show’s first airing, the BBC had just listed our guest as one of the 100 most inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2020. She was the first woman featured on the 2019 CNN list of Africa’s biggest music stars. In 2011, the Guardian named her as one of their top 100 most inspiring women in the world. And Forbes Magazine ranked her as the first woman on their list of the most powerful celebrities in Africa. Angelique Kidjo is from Benin, West Africa, and has overcome every obstacle on her way to becoming an internationally known artist, singer, performer, and activist. Her absolute commitment to her path meant fleeing a communist regime, and living in exile for six years. In 2020, she turned 60, and won her fourth Grammy. To hear her tell it, she knew from the time she was a child that she wanted to be a singer or a human rights lawyer, and in a sense, Angelique fulfilled both of those dreams through her advocacy and activism on behalf of children and gender equality, As a UNICEF and Oxfam Goodwill Ambassador. She has also created her own charitable foundation, Batonga Foundation for girls’ education in Africa. Angelique Kidjo's combination of feminism, social consciousness, and music all started with a song.
Our playlist includes new music from Andrea Von Kampen, Hiatus Kaiyote and Shungudzo whose new album I’m not a mother, but I have children came out just a few weeks ago on 6/18.
SHERO BIRTHDAYS:
We celebrate four SHERO birthdays this week! Mavis Staples is 82 on 7/10. Suzanne Vega turns 62 on 7/11, and Linda Ronstadt is 75 on 7/15! Plus Happy Birthday to our SHERO in the Spotlight Angelique Kidjo’s who turns 61 on 7/14!