A bold plan by Irish rocker-turned-activist Bob Geldof for multi-city concerts to combat poverty in Africa ran into flak when it became clear how few black artists are involved.I heard about this on the radio when I was out for a spin on Friday in my globalised Hyundai. The sainted one's explanation was that few African performers were of superstar status. That may well be so but I thought that these Live8 chappies believed in Fair Trade - you know, the kind of thing promulgated by the Trade Justice Movement whose website tells us:With the arguable exception of Mariah Carey, none of the headliners for the centrepiece Live8: The Long Walk to Justice concert at Hyde Park in London on July 2 are black, let alone African.
Together, we are campaigning for trade justice - not free trade - with the rules weighted to benefit poor people and the environment.On that basis shouldn't Saint Bob be weighting his hiring policies towards the employment of African performers even if they aren't superstars?
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Robert Speirs
Isn't this about guilty white Westerners doing their part to flood the kleptocracies of SubSaharan Africa with oceans of cash? Why should black performers have to do anything? It would be as absurd as expecting African nations in the UN to pay dues. The whole point of the institution is to transfer resources to the victimized oppressed, or at least to their representatives, who have just as much right to shop at Harrods and buy limousines as anyone else.
22 June 2005, 19:33:49 GMT+01:00
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Stephen for lack of a better
See the Philly line up, many African American acts are scheduled, including P Diddy and Will Smith.
Regardless, it still doesn't have the same energy as what Live Aid had, at least not yet. Debt relief doesn't have the same cachet as saving starving people, though it could probably do more good if gov'ts get on board (hesitation based on the fact that gov'ts rarely do anything well).
7 June 2005, 03:41:45 GMT+01:00
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Title: Bob Geldof the Hypocrite
Excerpt: Freedom and Whisky points out a slight, eh, "inconsistency" in Saint Bob's "thinking" (sic):
Geldof supports free trade!
... The sainted one's explanation was that few African performers were of superstar status. That may well be s...
Blog name: Independence
5 June 2005, 18:12:23 GMT+01:00
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