Emmanuel is a Sudanese Rap artist from Kenya/London, the award-film War Child is based on his life.
Born in the village of Tonj in Southern Sudan, Jal was a young child when the Second Sudanese Civil War broke out. His father joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and when he was about seven years old his mother was killed by soldiers loyal to the government. He then decided to join the thousands of children traveling to Ethiopia who had been told that they could be educated there.
However, many of the children, Jal included, were recruited by the SPLA and taken to military training camps in the bush in Etwas disguised as a school in front of international aid agencies and UN representatives, but behind closed doors the children were training to fight. “I didn’t have a life as a child. In five years as a fighting boy, what was in my heart was to kill as many Muslims as possible.”
Emmanuel became a child soldier at about the age of 7, and at the age of 11 was rescued by a British aid worker, Emma McCune, who smuggled him out of Sudan and into Kenya. There Emmanuel attended school in Nairobi. McCune died in a road accident a few months later, but her friends (Madeliene Bunting and Anna Ledgard) helped Emmanuel to continue his studies. However, after McCune died, her husband Machar did not agree with Emmanuel staying with him, and was forced to live in the slums.
While studying in Kenya, he chose to help others, becoming active in the community, and helping to raise money for street children and refugees. Jal started singing to ease the pain of what he had experienced. He also became very active in the community, raising money for local street children and refugees. With the encouragement of those around him, Jal who has also went through the same experience , Jal became increasingly involved in music and formed several groups. His first single, “All We Need Is Jesus”, was a hit in Kenya and received airplay in the UK.
Through his music, Jal counts on the unity of the citizens to overcome ethnic and religious division and motivate the youth in Sudan. After escaping to Kenya, he fell in love with hip-hop in the way that it identified issues being faced the neighborhood, which he was able to identify with in a unique manner. Although he lacked any music background or knowledge of its history, he felt that hip hop could provide the easiest and most effective vehicle to express his story and lobby for political change.
Jal believes in using music and celebrity status to make a positive difference, particularly in the lives of children. According to Look to the Stars, Jal is a spokesman for Make Poverty History, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers and the Control Arms campaign. He founded Gua Africa , the word GUA (pronounced gwaah) means peace in Nuer, a Sudanese tribal language. Their mission is to work with individuals, families and communities to help them overcome the effects of war & poverty. Jal’s projects are based in both Sudan and Kenya with a focus on providing education to children & young adults who would otherwise be denied this opportunity.
According to Jal, in times of war, starvation, hunger and injustice, the only way to survive the daily tragedy in Sudan is to allow the inner soul to be uplifted through music, which is like soul food to heal pain. Through his heartfelt lyrics, he opens the world up to the corruption and greed of the Sudanese government; central to the themes of his songs is the campaign for peace of opposing sides in Sudan and the clear message that children have no place in wars. We also hear that Jal is planning to build a school in southern Sudan. BCG salutes Emmanuel as a BCG Change-Maker! To learn more about Emmanuel Jal and support his cause
