“We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we make a better day
Just you and me…”
Many of us (how that is possible!) remember very well this song resonating July 13, 1985 around the world. It was a day when Bob Geldof put together a tour raising money to help famine in Ethiopia. Every star you can imagine participated in two concurrent concerts, one in London and one in Philadelphia, viewed by 400 million people around the globe. That day the song “We are the World” became what it is today - a symbol of giving and supporting. It became a motto of solidarity.
Solidarity is one of the most powerful tools to support others. It is not so much about monetary gift as it is about recognizing that one is not alone in his dire situation. It is about that others, who live in civil conditions, are aware that you do not. Believe or not – it helps as much as an actual gift.
One of my most memorable moments where I felt very palpably how solidarity does wonders was in Budapest in September 6, 1988. I traveled there from Prague to see a concert Human Rights Now! that featured Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Sting and Tracy Chapman. The concert symbolically started with Bob Marley song “Get up, Stand up” and ended withDylan’s “Chimes of Freedom” sung by Springsteen. Very moving. All of the singers acknowledged us – ”Let us now welcome all of the young people living without privilege to freedom, people who traveled to Budapest from East Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia”. We were so taken aback that someone is taking interest in our humble insignificant Eastern European lives, that someone is touring twenty cities around the world to spread the thought of necessity of freedom. We were touched, moved, surprised and our spirit was strengthen by solidarity of others who supported us, who acknowledged us and recognized the harsh conditions we lived in. I have never attended more intense concert that would give me such a moral boost. We knew we are not alone. Even though a cynic may say that “these singers did not change anything about your doom” - I have to argue they did. They poured into the crowd of young people, bereft of democracy, much of hope, joy and power to keep our dignity.
Let us show our solidarity to those who need it the most now. Let us choose for this week Haiti. They need strength, hope, joy and knowledge that we think of them. Let us assure them they are a part of our world that we will help to restore to its original beauty.
By money we can rebuild the cities. By solidarity we can rebuit the broken spirits.
Let us be giving.
Solidarity for Haiti at Platt not only on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 event from 10 AM – 10 PM.
