Quotes About Griot

'Griot' is a French word which means, you know, really, literally, 'cry.' You know, like the town crier. You know, they come in and say, you know, 'It's nine o'clock; everything is cool.' You know, 'President Bush is a fool.' I mean, stuff like that just to tell you. But for the kind of, the African thing is called djali.

The word griot...is the word for what I do and the role that the filmmaker has in society...the griot is a messenger of one's time, a visionary and the creator of the future.

Il presidente del Senegal, il poeta Leopold Sedar Senghor, ci ha detto in un incontro: "Presto, non perdete tempo. Girate l'Africa nera, in lungo e in largo per ascoltare gli ultimi nostri cantastorie. Ogni vecchio griot che muore è una biblioteca che brucia".

I see myself as the oldest griot tradition of speaking to truth out here. There's a dark side that people don't even know is there.