sxsw

He’s sold millions of albums in Europe and is an internet star. Kanye West and Lorde have collaborated with him, and President Obama has one of his CDs. He’s Belgian hip hop artist Stromae, whose Rwandan father was killed in that nation’s genocide and is now trying to make it in the US.

They left northern Mali because music was banned by Islamic extremists. Now Songhoy Blues is bringing their flavor of desert blues to the world.

On Saturday in Austin, there was a Black Lives Matter protest on the campus of the University of Texas, down the street from near the annual SXSW conference. At the protest was Texas hip-hop artist D.Hawk, who says it’s time to take a stand against violence against African Americans.

On any given day at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, activists know they have an audience for their causes. We’ve been asking young people on the street, “What was the last protest you attended?”