Best of The Beat March 28, 2017
Best of The Beat on Afropop: Salif Keita and the Coup d'Etat
As we eagerly await Salif Keita’s appearance in New York this week (his last appearance here was 2014), and in other locations accessible to our readers around the U.S., here is a “Best of The Beat” cover feature on “Mali’s Musical Monarch” from 1991. Our correspondent, Brooke Wentz, found herself in Bamako in the midst of the violent political coup d’etat that felled President Moussa Traore after 23 years in power.
Brooke sent us a first-hand report on her chance encounter with Salif in Bamako, the political uprising, and chaos in the streets. Salif, as a local hero, became her protector, and she ultimately escaped Bamako with him as they fled to his family’s home village of Djoliba for safety.
