Lietuvos Respublika - Mes Pakeliui

Lithuania is the southernmost of the three Baltic states. It borders the Baltic Sea to the west and shares borders with Latvia, Belarus, Poland, and Russia (exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast). Lithuania is the largest country in the Baltic region, both in terms of area and population.

From approximately 1253 to 1795, Lithuania was a Grand Duchy, and from 1569 onward, as Poland-Lithuania, it was part of a real union. With the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, its territory passed to Russia and Prussia, which lost its share to the Duchy of Warsaw and Russia in 1807, until Lithuania became a sovereign republic in 1918 with the Act of Independence of Lithuania. After the Soviet occupation (1940), interrupted by the German occupation (1941–1944), it regained its independence in 1990. As part of the EU enlargement in 2004, Lithuania became a member of the European Union and a member of NATO. Since January 1, 2015, Lithuania has been the 19th member of the Eurozone.

Lithuania has a population of over three million (as of 2025). The capital and largest city of Lithuania is Vilnius (612,000 inhabitants). Other major cities are Kaunas (311,500), Klaipėda (165,000), and Šiauliai (117,000). Panevėžys is the fifth largest city with 88,000 inhabitants.

Lithuania - Mes Pakeliui

Republiki ya Kongó - Nazali Pembeni

Congo is a republic in Central Africa. Its capital and largest metropolitan area, located off the port city of Pointe-Noire, is Brazzaville; the country is also known as Congo-Brazzaville.

The country borders Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly the Belgian Congo or Zaire), the Angolan exclave of Cabinda, and the Atlantic Ocean. The United Nations Development Programme classifies the Republic of the Congo as a country with medium human development.

Congo - Nazali Pembeni

République du Mali - An Bɛ Nyɛmɔgɔ

Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa. Around 21.4 million people live in the approximately 1.24 million km² state (as of July 2023). Its capital is Bamako. Most of the population lives in the southern part of the country, which is crossed by the two rivers Niger and Senegal. The north extends deep into the Sahara and is hardly populated.

Throughout history, there have been three empires in what is now Mali that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, after which the modern state is named, and the Songhai Empire. Mali's golden age saw the flourishing of Islamic scholarship, mathematics, astronomy, literature and art. In the late 19th century, Mali became part of the colony of French Sudan. Along with neighboring Senegal, the Mali Federation gained independence in 1960. Shortly thereafter, the federation collapsed and the country declared independence under its current name. After a long one-party rule, a military coup in 1991 led to the adoption of a new constitution and the establishment of a democratic multi-party state.

In January 2012, the armed conflict in northern Mali escalated again. In the course of this, the Tuareg rebels proclaimed the secession of the state of Azawad from Mali. The conflict was further complicated by the March 2012 coup and subsequent fighting between Islamists and the Tuareg. In view of the Islamists' territorial gains, Operation Serval began in January 2013, during which Malian and French troops recaptured most of the north. The UN Security Council supports the peace process by deploying MINUSMA. After the recent, third military coup in May 2021, the country is led by a transitional military government. This is internationally criticized, among other things, for not holding elections and for maintaining close relations with authoritarian Russia.

A new constitution was approved again in 2023.

The main economic sectors are agriculture, fishing and, increasingly, mining. The most important mineral resources include gold, of which Mali is the third largest producer in Africa, and salt. About half of the population lives below the poverty line. The United Nations Development Program lists Mali as one of the countries with low levels of human development.

Mali has long traditions in cultural areas. Especially in music, dance, literature and visual arts, it leads an independent cultural life that is known far beyond its borders.

Mali - An Bè Taa

Jamaica - We Push Ahead

Jamaica is an island nation in the Caribbean. The country is a former British colony that gained independence in 1962 and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The capital, Kingston, is also the largest city in the country. The majority of the approximately three million inhabitants are descended from African slaves and are Christian.

Jamaica is a democracy, although to this day it recognizes the British monarch as head of state, who is represented by a governor general.

The musical styles ska and reggae emerged on the island. Furthermore, the Rastafarian faith has its origins in Jamaica.

Jamaica - We Push Ahead

Des paroles engagées sur un rythme chaloupé.
L'actualité politique nous met en colère, alors on a décidé d'en faire une chanson !

Chanson optimiste

Dawn

I had the privilege to have a few brief encounters over the years with the great poet, educator and activist Nikki Giovanni. She passed away last December. If interested there are many videos on YouTube about her. 

“Mothers” passage sung by Joliz going into the break, Copyright © 1972 by Nikki Giovanni.

I saw Nikki Giovanni outside the A train
She was reading a book by Baldwin and whispering the quotes
She had that Harlem quiet
The kind that makes you feel loud, even if you haven’t said a word all day
She looked up at me once
Like she already knew the next ten things I would say
And of course none of that mattered

She wrote poems like switchblades
And carved song verses on subway tiles
With truth tucked in the chorus
Love poems for the revolution and letters to the dead
All written in lipstick and ink
Some folks talk about hope
She talked about survival
Anyone knows there's a difference

“I see the moon
The moon sees me
God bless the moon
And god bless me”

I asked her once, I said Nikki, do you still believe in change
She half smiled and said, “Man, I believe in kids, I believe in rage,
I believe in writing it down so they don’t forget our names.”
“You either speak up or get buried under someone else's story.”
Then she walked into that bookstore on 125th like it was a church 
In a way I guess it was a church

I ran into her much later at a reading downtown
Tiny room, bad mic, nobody listening but the ghosts
She read a line about her grandmother’s hands
The room went quiet like it finally remembered what hands are for
The words, not angry, not loud, but like a bullet that only hits the guilty
Truth is a loaded pistol

But Nikki
She’s in the cracks
She’s in the ink smudge
The subway echo
The line you wake up hearing but don’t remember writing
Nikki
She’s still walking this city
Just quiet enough to make the truth sound loud

Nikki (with Joliz)

Shine (Inst.)

No Broke Boys (GRUBLAV EDIT)

Mando Yo

Buy On Bandcamp

Al3x Sample & Adam Buck - Mando Yo (Long Play)

Towards Dawn

Even as a small child I wanted to learn a musical instrument...

...since there was a music school in our small town where I grew up, but it was limited to the activities of the local musicians' band, the choice was rather limited... because piano, guitar or saxophone were not offered and that's why I decided me for the trumpet, which was not used for cast-technical reasons, so the FLÜGELHORN became my instrument...
In my youth I turned my back on music and was active in sports towards the end of my teenage years.

Mali - An Bè Taa

Ramixjoe ♈︎