Interview with Meklit Hadero, Ethio-Jazz Singer-Songwriter, National Geographic Explorer, Host of Movement (Music and Migration, Remixed)
By Charles Mbatsogo | Issue 25
Can you briefly share your personal story of migration from Ethiopia to the United States and how that experience has shaped your identity, your music and cultural activism?
I came to the US from Ethiopia as a refugee in my youth. We were briefly in Germany, before arriving in Washington DC, then living in Iowa, Brooklyn, Florida, and more. We really moved around a lot, mostly following my parents’ jobs. I’ve been in the San Francisco Bay Area for a couple of decades now. Migration is a deep touchstone of my identity. I think of myself as Ethiopian American, both cultures come together in my heart, life and music. I grew up listening to old tapes of Ethiopian music and American radio together, hearing my parents speak Amharic, while life outside the home was entirely in English. My songs reflect this, and I have found my sound through dedication to Ethio-Jazz, a place where Black American culture and Ethiopian culture live in an active relationship to one another. In 2011, I met the Godfather of Ethio-Jazz, Mulatu Astatke. He came to a concert of mine, and afterwards, he tasked me to find my contribution to Ethio-Jazz and keep on innovating. That was a wildly expansive moment for me, because before that, I had always felt I had to be relevant to the music and ground myself in paying homage to the past. He showed me that culture is not stuck in amber, and that our responsibility as creative folks is to learn our history and culture, but see ourselves on a continuum, creating living culture and carrying it forward to the future.
Looking back on your journey, what moments stand out as pivotal in shaping your career and advocacy work?
The most pivotal moment might be my very start. I launched my arts career at the Red Poppy Art House, a tiny interdisciplinary culture hub in San Francisco’s Mission District. I began as a volunteer community arts organiser, but soon became the Co-Director of the organisation. We worked on a street-level arts festival called the Mission Arts and Performance Project (MAPP), turning backyards, front stoops, living rooms and garages into spaces for visual arts and performance. At MAPP, we spoke out about social issues, and dedicated each MAPP to causes, like fighting against racism, gentrification, police violence in our communities and more. Each event was entirely free and packed with people. I both organised the events and performed at them. In fact, I performed at every MAPP for nearly three years and that’s how I grew my audience. Once my first album came out, I was selling out major San Francisco venues, and the music industry took note. The Red Poppy Art House experience was really my blueprint. It’s where I learned that organising meaningful community arts experiences went hand in hand with growing musically. It’s where I learned how to write songs, but also how to hone a vision, dream a project, and bring many folks together to make it happen.
Congratulations on the release of your New EP 'Ethio Blue'. What inspired this project and what themes do you explore in this EP?
I wrote most of this album back in 2019 while I was pregnant with my son, and thinking about what kind of world I wanted my child to grow up in. At that moment, I was particularly sensitive to the multiple intersecting crises that humanity is facing, and how tired folks already seemed. I wanted to write an album to heal ourselves and nourish our hearts. I felt strongly that I needed to remind myself and my community of the collective power we all have and the spirit of resiliency that can refresh us for the road ahead. Little did I know the pandemic would just make the whole thing even more relevant.
How did your collaboration with Grammy-winning + Oscar nominated songwriter/producer Dan Wilson influence the final outcome of this musical project ?
Dan is family. We’ve known each other for years, and he has taught me so much about songwriting and how to trust my own instincts. Collaborating with Dan means working with a partner who cares so much about bringing out the best in me and my band in the studio, and clarifying the songs to make them as strong as possible. He cares about every detail while never losing sight of the big picture. It’s a rare combo and it’s easy to see why he’s one of the most sought after producers and songwriters in the music industry. I am so grateful to have partnered with him to bring these songs to life.
What inspired you to create 'Movement', and what are your main objectives with this transmedia storytelling initiative ?
Movement is a podcast, radio series, live show and community building initiative exploring the intersection of migration and music. Our objective is to uplift the stories and songs of immigrant musicians, creating expansive public space to express ourselves with complexity, nuance, and on our own terms.
The project started in 2017, in the wake of the first Trump presidency, at a time when xenophobia was being normalised in the United States. Myself, and two genius radio producers - Julie Caine and Ian Coss - came together to launch the project. We really gained momentum in 2020 when PRX’s The World, a radio show that reaches 2.5 million monthly listeners in the United States, came on as our broadcast partner. Since 2021, we have been regularly airing stories with them. The project has continued to grow since then.
To speak personally for a moment, I write and perform Ethio-Jazz music, which is so clearly a migration music. My sound is literally born from a migration, and this is a topic that I’ve spoken about for years. I co-created this project to drive new narratives of migration together with other artists in a way that I was simply not able to do alone.
I also started this project out of love. Meaning, I am in love with the culture and music of immigrant peoples, and I think some of the most powerful, innovative music across the globe is coming out of immigrant communities. I wanted to share that sound with others. As an activist and speaker, I also got really tired of hearing troubling tropes of immigrants that either demonise our communities, or focus only on the moment where folks need help and support. I wanted to create an avenue where narratives of migration could be shaped by the folks who had experienced it. I also wanted to make space for immigrants to tell our own stories - focused on cultural power, while prioritising ourselves as whole and complex people.
As Season 2 of 'Movement' approaches, can you give us a glimpse of what we can expect from the upcoming episodes?
I’m so excited for Season 2, which launched on 16 July. We are a music discovery show that looks history in the eye, and does not shy away from the large scale forces and pressures shaping our world. Some folks listen to us for the incredible music, others for the unique perspective on migration, still others listen for our musical approach to storytelling. It’s a total honour to co-produce the Season with Ian Coss, who recently won a prestigious Peabody award. This Season, we brought on the brilliant Senior Editor Megan Tan, also an award winning radio producer, who has taken the show to the next level. Our lineup is quite simply outstanding, and includes Sid Sriram (India/US), Dayme Arocena (Cuba/Puerto Rico/Canada), Mafer Bandola (Venezuela/US), June Millington (Philippines/US) and so many more.
How do you select your guests and themes ?
We have a long running list of folks that we are interested in, and we are always adding to it. We also are constantly listening to new records, reading album reviews, asking community folks who we should be paying attention to and more… whatever we can do to open our ears. Sometimes the themes come out naturally from the interview, other times we know very clearly what we want to focus on from our familiarity with the artist. But migration is so intersectional, we find ourselves talking about migration and public policy, climate change, racism, queer identities, abolitionism, school systems, protest and more. The power of this podcast is that there is usually a song that goes right along with the conversation, so you can feel your way into the stories to a whole new level.
In your view, what is the role of art and music in advocacy and activism, particularly around issues of migration and refugees rights?
We are in an all hands on deck moment. The right is mobilising around mass deportation, and using immigrants as scapegoats in ways that are terrifying. Just last week, I read an interview with Maribel Hernández Rivera from ACLU, and she was expressing how anti-immigrant groups are vastly outspending pro-immigrant groups in messaging and storytelling, and having success in setting the public dialogue. This is a massive problem. The culture wars have policy outcomes, or as the great cultural critic Jeff Chang says - culture precedes policy. It’s imperative that folks who have experienced migration are driving public imagination, tone, narrative and stories about migration. When you change the narratives, you change the culture. When you change the culture, so much is possible. I don’t think that music is the answer to everything. But I am a musician, I am a culture builder, and I have a part to play. We all do. The approach to making change has to be intersectional, and coalition driven. Also - musicians are natural storytellers. We know how to inspire, because it’s literally in our job description. So I think there is much more room for musicians, songs and storytelling in this work towards rights and justice.
You have been honoured as a National Geographic Explorer, a TED Senior Fellow, and more. How have these recognitions impacted your work and your ability to influence positive change ?
I apply to a lot of things. I got both of those accolades because I applied to them from open calls online. The TED Fellowship impacted my life most clearly by making me part of a community of creatives, scientists, educators, designers and organisers in all fields trying to work towards a healthier, more equitable world. And the friendships are so deep that I now have a couch to sleep on in pretty much any country in the world! National Geographic gave Movement significant funding at a critical juncture in our development. Most of their storytellers were focused on visual mediums, so I think a musician storyteller was a real outlier approach for them. It’s been a great partnership, and I love that they are an organisation that fully acknowledges their problematic history, and is doing the work to address it.
Your work has been featured globally. How do you navigate and integrate the diverse cultural contexts of your international audience into your project ?
Music does that for me. I speak it, but then I can sing it. And that reaches the head, the heart and the hips. But in general, I think you navigate diverse contexts by listening. Movement taught me that being a storyteller is first and foremost about being a listener. That works wherever in the world you go.
What advice would you give to young artists who are also passionate about using their talents for social change?
Start small. Start in your neighbourhood. But the main thing, just start. Get inspired by those who have come before, like the legendary civil rights activist, composer, vocalist, and educator, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, who just passed away this week. Learn to organise. Bringing people together for a common purpose is deeply important. Building community with intention and care is imperative for not only surviving, but also for being able to actually build the equitable, climate resilient, regenerative future we know is possible. Music is deeply important for getting us there. Music is an ancient tool that we have to bring folks together. When a group of people hears a song, our brain waves sync with the rhythm. When people sing together, our heartbeats align. We can literally use music to unite a group at a physiological, emotional and narrative level. There are so many examples of this. Musicians are the carriers of this special power and we can harness it to make positive change.
Meklit Hadero is an award winning Ethiopian-American vocalist/composer and former refugee. Her music has been featured by the New York Times, BBC, NPR and many more. She is a National Geographic Explorer, a TED Sr. Fellow, and former Artist-in-Residence at Harvard University. She has collaborated with world renowned artists such as Kronos Quartet, Andrew Bird and Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Meklit is host and co-founder of Movement, a podcast, radio series and live show exploring the intersection of migration and music, airing to nearly 3 million listeners as a nationally syndicated feature on PRX's The World.
For more about Meklit Hadero’s music and activism:
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