GROWING UP BLACK IN A WHITEWASHED COLOMBIA, SOUTH AMERICA

Greetings my warriors/Saludos mis Guerreros. Welcome to my first blog on my own website. My name is CHAE. I am a multi-genre singer/songwriter, music producer and activist who talks about my experiences growing Black in my country Colombia, and how things have not change much since I left. I use the universal language of music in different rhythms and sounds to bring awareness of the existence of Afro Colombians to the world

I hope that this blog will help us to communicate and transmit our feelings, experiences and thoughts to open the door of self-education, truth, and self-acknowledgment as important and essential individuals of this big apple pie called the World!

I said we have to open the door of self-education because nobody will teach us what we should know about ourselves, I said  we must open the door of the truth because we already know that what has been taught to us is not the real truth, instead, it is a big fat lie in how we have been indoctrinated but not educated about our existence, and I also said we must open the door of self-acknowledgement to understand who we are, why are we still in bondage in the present times, and where are we going from now on in relation to our race, color, social inequality and the white society.

We are living in very harsh times. I feel the world is awakening to a different spectrum of racial issues in which everyone wants to speak up their minds and thoughts to provide ideas, plans or solution to a huge old pandemic and universal problem, that is Racism. I ‘ve been experiencing racism since the time I was born. The feelings of rejection for being Black is not a strange thing to me. I’ve been bullied at, laughed out, harassed, screamed at and discriminated because of my race and color.

The moment my father took his family to live in a jungle was because we were forced to live there due to the lack of good opportunities of life by living in the city. We did not have any other way for survival. However, we were intelligent enough to learn how to break through those hard times of extreme hunger, poverty, and social alienation, and only our Faith in God helped us to be resilient to every situation up until today.

This value is what I carry on in my music, my art and lyrics to express the inconformity of my Afro descendants’ life in a racist Colombia, South America. I believe that with the power of music I can bring awareness, a message and healing to the ones who don’t know Colombia has Black people, and in what diminishing conditions my people still lives in, especially in remote region like #Choco #Cauca #Buenaventura to name a few. Thanks for reading.

Peace to you, my warriors

Chae.

Visit Freedom video song or my name is CHAE on the Video section of this page. Follow me on Facebook as CHAE on Fire, chaeonfireofficial on Instagram & twitter