Tucson Refugee Beat

Tucson Refugee Beat is a group of refugee youth in Tucson from different refugee camps in Africa. It was formed in 2018 by Emmanuel Uwayezu who started buying different instruments from Goodwill and pawn shops and training young refugees how to play them.
Our goal to create awareness and prevent substance abuse in Tucson youth and to assist refugee communities in integrating into the local community. We do this by following four guidelines: 1) Education, 2) Work and pay taxes, 3) Obey the rule of law, and 4) Serve and respect everyone despite their background. All our songs–sung in seven different languages–address community integration and emphasize the four pillars above.