Ipas > Out of Africa - And America

Out of Africa - And America

Rock for Reproductive Rights benefit blends styles to help women worldwide

October 19, 2006

Born into one of Mali’s prominent griot families, Mamadou Diabate was destined to be a musician. Now a Durham resident, the GRAMMY-nominated Diabate tells stories with his kora, a 21-string lute common to West Africa. Born across the Atlantic in the United States, Orange County resident and former Squirrel Nut Zipper singer Katharine Whalen’s instruments are her unique voice and her fearless crossing of musical boundaries.

These two Triangle artists combine forces for Ipas’s annual Rock for Reproductive Rights benefit on Dec. 16 at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro, 300-G East Main St. This special double billing will take place from 8-11 p.m.

Tickets are $15 for the general public or $12 for ArtsCenter Friends. They are available through the ArtsCenter box office, 929-2787, ext. 201.

For the past two years, Ipas has organized a concert to raise money, and more importantly, to educate our local community about unsafe abortion and the toll it takes on women around the world. While most people are aware of the debates about abortion rights in the United States, few can picture what it would be like to live in El Salvador, where abortion is illegal even in cases of rape or when needed to save a woman’s life. Ipas works around the globe to save women’s lives in places where abortion is illegal or inaccessible.

Whalen is committed to supporting women’s health and choices.

“I’m a single mother, and I have all the benefits in the world in terms of being able to pursue my art and raise my child. For women in many parts of the world, surviving alone is difficult, and raising a child is out of the question. I want to do all I can to help women. Abortion is a right that every woman should have.”

Whalen is best known for her stint as the singer for the Squirrel Nut Zippers, the Chapel Hill jazz/swing band that took the world by storm in the 1990s. But earlier this year, Whalen released “Dirty Little Secret,” her first solo recording in seven years, to critical acclaim in No Depression (“an exotically original, genre-busting beauty”) and The Oxford American. She will perform at Rock for Reproductive Rights with the soul combo and Triangle favorite Hobex.

Growing up in Africa, where more than 4 million women have unsafe abortions annually, Mamadou Diabate shared a personal perspective on why he’s participating in the Rock for Reproductive Rights benefit.

Diabate said: “It is very important for women in African countries to get help from the United States. When I lived in Mali, I was aware of young girls dying from abortions they did themselves and also women who could never have a baby because they had an unsafe abortion earlier.”

He will be backed by his Mamadou Diabate Ensemble. Diabate comes to Rock for Reproductive Rights after earning a 2005 GRAMMY nomination in the Best Traditional World Music Album category for his solo project, “Behmanka.” He is an ambassador for traditional Malian arts but has played with jazz and contemporary artists to introduce the kora to new audiences.

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258