Throughout the past when times were different many different types of music and songs were banned and unbanned for different reasons. Maybe for promoting activities that were looked down upon. This post speaks about musical bans on an entirely different scale however. The bans spoken about in the post are bans on all music. The thought of that is suffocating. An entire country, Mali, in silence. The exact reasons why Mali has ordered a ban on all music is unclear at this moment. Perhaps the reasons were religious, perhaps they were to cease expression, but the impact of the ban, if not reversed or ceased soon can be catastrophic to following generations of the country. In most parts of the world music is a form of expression. It brings happiness to some people and to others it brings sadness for the beauty of the tunes. In Mali however music serves another purpose as well: It is a form of keeping history. Certain people called Griots in the country have served as storytellers and mediators since they know the truths of the countries history the best. They were the oral historians of the country, passing down the knowledge of the countries past through song. If the musical ban that the article talks about continues, the country will end up losing a lot of its past. A thought could arise as to whether or not the people could forgo the ban and attempt to continue living with music, but that is not a possible scenario. The armed militant in charge of exacting the ban are a violent lot and have threatened musicians throughout the country. They have shut down music shows and taken it upon themselves to burn down guitars and instruments after the ban was passed. This is a dark day for Mali. One can only surmise that from this the country will become darker and less lively. In the end it shows us the importance of something we take for granted in our day to day lives, and inevitably should bring us a greater appreciation for the music we hear constantly almost every day.
