YALI CHECKS

We live in an era where information flows from all corners of the sphere, every second. With such an influx, and this being a knowledge-hungry society, we are prone to what King Solomon would say in the holy scriptures thus; “in a multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” Back then, the major medium of information was the word of mouth. Centuries later, we have innumerable sources of information yet some are still being invented.

Since people want to hear us, we feel obligated to share anything any time we receive it. This has brought in the error of fake news. As an artiste as well as an observer of other artistes, it is sometimes embarrassing when I hear songs that create illusive lifestyles, promote propaganda, hatred and disrespect to the human race and the deity.

I take this opportunity to applaud Young African Leaders Network (YALI) for coming up with a sensitization program dubbed YALICHECKS. This was intended to influence young people to verify information before sharing. This was a challenge that I took and thought about how I had been sharing information previously. After making the resolve and defeating the temptation of forwarding updates on whatsapp regardless of how juicy they seemed, I organized an event at the Kenya National Library Services yesterday.

Since music is my God-given tool for communication, I wrote a short song which saw all the attendees pledge to Stop. Reflect. Verify before sharing information. Being part of Dowe Music & Arts, I believe in authenticity and I think this tagline is timely and it’s a good action point to pass on to students, fans and friends. The lyrics of the song are as follows:

I pledge to,

Stop! Check! Reflect-Verify information

I won’t share anything I don’t know

If you want to listen to the soundbite of the tune just click Yalichecks Song

I strongly believe that if everyone (especially the young people) took time to sieve the kind of information s/he receives, then our society can be a better place. We won’t fight on account of what we heard was said about us, we won’t live on someone else’s speech, we will get good music that is authentic and this will make us appreciate our motherland- Afrika the more.

Below are ample photos of the event we had yesterday.

 Remember to ‘Stop. Reflect. Verify information before sharing responsibly.

A big thank you to the American Corner courtesy of the US Embassy and Knls Nakuru for the space.