The beat dropped and the words “dignity” and “restoration” reverberated throughout the Nelson Mandela Auditorium.
Attendees of the fifth annual Visualizing Human Rights anti-conference gathered Saturday to learn about local and global struggles for human rights — focusing on the Congolese term “pamoja.”
“You can’t describe it in words. It’s like community, oneness, solidarity, love — that’s what it means,” said Pierce Freelon, a UNC music professor and co-founder of ARTVSM, a beat-making program.
Bevin Tighe, program assistant for the Center of Global Initiatives, said the event strives to stray from the failing statistical portrayal of human rights.
“Basically, the idea is what is the most opposite of just bombarding people with facts and figures,” Tighe said.
Saturday’s event featured numerous art installations from local artists and presentations from UNC professors.
Dick Gordon, host of WUNC’s “The Story,” interviewed Petna Ndaliko and Cherie Rivers Ndaliko.
The Ndalikos are co-directors of Yole!Africa, a cultural center in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that provides arts education for youth.
Yole!Africa allows for self expression through children’s talents, and Cherie Ndaliko said the constant demand for the center indicates its success.