Posted on 06/01/2005 3:52:27 PM PDT by Lizavetta
LONDON (AFP) - 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.
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.
It's a bit better elsewhere, with Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour and British soulman Craig David on the bill in Paris, former Fugee Lauryn Hill in Berlin, and rapper 50 Cent and the legendary Stevie Wonder in Philadelphia.
"It's disappointing, to say the least," said Justin Onyeka, entertainment editor of the New Nation, a weekly newspaper in London that serves Britain's black community.
"I would have thought they'd have learned from 20 years ago (when Live8's celebrated predecessor Live Aid was held) when most black people on stage were either backing singers or in Sting's backing band," he told AFP.
Shaggy-haired Geldof, who fronted the 1980s New Wave band Boomtown Rats, announced Live8 at a press conference in London on Tuesday, saying he wanted to see the shows put pressure on G8 leaders to act urgently on poverty in Africa.
"The concert is the beginning," the hard-driving singer-turned-activist declared. "This is a genuine solidarity of the people. It is a shared concern for another continent."
The shows will coincide with a Make Poverty History rally in Scotland's capital Edinburgh that is expected to draw 200,000 protesters ahead of the annual G8 summit in Gleneagles on July 6-8.
A Live8 concert in Rome with mainly Italian acts is also planned, and Geldof said he'd like to see concerts as well in the other G8 countries -- Canada, Japan and Russia.
The most-watched show will be in London, where the line-up will include chart-topping white acts like Coldplay, Dido, Elton John, Annie Lennox, Paul McCartney, REM, Scissor Sisters, Sting, Joss Stone, Robbie Williams and U2.
This is despite the fact that Britain's black music scene is as vibrant as ever, generating such winning R and B, rap, soul and jazz stars as Ms Dynamite, Estelle, Jamelia, Soweto Kinch, Beverley Knight and Dizzie Rascal.
London is also a vital hub for reggae, soca and other Caribbean styles, embraced by tens of thousands every August at Europe's biggest street festival, the Notting Hill Carnival, yet no Caribbean acts are promised.
Spokesmen for Live8 did not return calls from AFP on Wednesday, leaving black music enthusiasts to only hope that black acts will yet find their way onto the stage in the coming weeks.
"London's diverse communities feel every bit as passionate about debt write-off and free trade and increased aid as anyone else," said Lester Holloway of the on-line news service Blink (www.blink.org.uk).
"There's still time for Sir Bob and friends to make amends," Holloway told AFP. "They really do need to be more diverse and multicultural -- and not just support (warm-up) acts, but headliners."
"I cannot believe Lemar is not there," the Zambia-born, London-based reggae singer Chiozo, soon to embark on his own Cape-to-Cairo musical trek by foot, told Blink. "If there's any justice in the world, he would be."
I never knew Maria Carey was black until today.
To me this is like the Olympics. I hope the whole thing flops with every stupid contingency battling over useless crap.
Interesting how head counting by race is a leftist tactic to point out how evil Republicans are, yet when Lefties don't measure up it's an "embarassing oversight" which of COURSE isn't racism.
Every stupid constituency that is.
It's okay... none of their fans or supporters are black, either.
These musicians put on a show of the music they knew for the audience they knew.
This thing is a joke and a waste of time. Nothing except radical change is going to help Africa.
Until the people rise up and get rid of dictators like Mugabe nothing will change.
Live Aid I was a nice effort but most of the what tried to go to help Africa back then ended up in the back pockets and Swiss bank accounts of the corrupt leaders.
So I don't think this will help.
As I recall, half-black and half Venezuelan, whatever races that entails.
They should play basketball.
Unless they have Il Divo, I'm not tuning in.
Yes... afterall, the G8 countries never done anything to 'fight poverty in Africa'... /sarc
The article didn't mention if any of the artists would stand up against the slaughter of Christians there. Maybe I just missed that part.
Inviting these folks on stage would, at least, double the ticket price - eh? (Who are they?)
Does anyone know how much was raised from the first concert, and where that money went to? Without trying to be crude, seems to me that what was enough money to get them on the right track. One of the web sites states they still receive money annually. Why keep giving?? Ok, so I was crude, sorry!
I'm not sure what Geldof is on about... if you've ever actually been to one of these lefty money-grubbing events, they're ALL white as white can be. I once went to an event with a girlfriend, which featured the author Armistead Maupin. He decried bias and intolerance of every kind, and praised inclusiveness. There wasn't a non-caucasian face in the room, and nobody seemed to sense any irony in that fact, even after I snickered and pointed it out. They're self-important little navel-gazers, that's for sure.
Another question, with the Hillary party/campaign fund raiser scandal in mind, is "How much will the entertainers be paid and how much will they rake off in perks?"
How about Idi Amin playing the ukelele? I'd pay big bucks to see that.
Bwahahahaha! Some of the North African (Arabic-speaking, extremely-mixed-race) pop artists are very good. Waaaaa-LAH! (Would they pass for "black" or "African"?
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