My goal for starting this blog was to have my students engage in meaningful communication about issues relevant to them. The fact that five students had left posts, before I arrived home on a Friday night, is encouraging and seems to indicate that I am on the right track. My inspiration for this entry comes from a link sent to me by a student , so my thanks to Liam. The YouTube clip included below is for the Nickelback video "If Everyone Cared". What impacted me about this video is how it documents significant individuals who have witnessed injustice(s) and have set out to change the world they live in.
The first individual in the video is Bob Geldolf, a musician, who travelled to Africa in the 1980's and witnessed a continent being devastated by a lack of food and water from years of sustained drought. He along with Midge Ure (another 80's musician) realized that something had to be done and together they planned an ambitious event, Live Aid. Its goal was simple, to raise funds for the famine relief effort in Ethopia. On July 13th, 1985 , I along with 1.5 billion people world wide, gathered in front of their television sets (no internet feeds yet, sorry), to watch some of the biggest musical acts of the day perform (U2, Duran Duran, Mick Jagger, The Who, Dire Straits and Queen just to name a few). It was a significant event as it was one of the first times musicians came together with a unified social conscience, to help feed the world. More than $240 million was raised in just one day. The second clip I have included is one of the headline acts of the event , U2 playing their song "Bad". This song brings me back to my high school years, but more importantly when Bono (the lead singer) pulls someone up from the audience to dance with, it symbolized for many, artists connecting to the world they lived in and their outward expression of compassion. I am curious what songs have meaning or inspire you? Are there groups in your generation that have continued this legacy of bands with a conscience? Let me know what you think...
The first individual in the video is Bob Geldolf, a musician, who travelled to Africa in the 1980's and witnessed a continent being devastated by a lack of food and water from years of sustained drought. He along with Midge Ure (another 80's musician) realized that something had to be done and together they planned an ambitious event, Live Aid. Its goal was simple, to raise funds for the famine relief effort in Ethopia. On July 13th, 1985 , I along with 1.5 billion people world wide, gathered in front of their television sets (no internet feeds yet, sorry), to watch some of the biggest musical acts of the day perform (U2, Duran Duran, Mick Jagger, The Who, Dire Straits and Queen just to name a few). It was a significant event as it was one of the first times musicians came together with a unified social conscience, to help feed the world. More than $240 million was raised in just one day. The second clip I have included is one of the headline acts of the event , U2 playing their song "Bad". This song brings me back to my high school years, but more importantly when Bono (the lead singer) pulls someone up from the audience to dance with, it symbolized for many, artists connecting to the world they lived in and their outward expression of compassion. I am curious what songs have meaning or inspire you? Are there groups in your generation that have continued this legacy of bands with a conscience? Let me know what you think...