Music and Protest

Band Aid 30 and Controversy

Bob Geldof has raised a lot of money for charity. His Live Aid and Band Aid concerts have made news around the world. Poverty in Africa has been a special focus of his. He campaigned hard to reduce the debt burden of African countries.

His recent release of Do They Know it’s Christmas has caused some controversy.

I wasn’t aware until recently. In the last couple of days I’ve seen several mentions and the outcry against it by some Africans. When you listen to the song, do you hear the lyrics, “Bring peace and joy this Christmas to West Africa, A song of hope when there’s no hope tonight”?

I’ve just been reading about Geldof on Wikipedia and I find that disputes often follow him.

And why the offense this time? The lyrics imply that everyone in West Africa is without hope.

Yet there are millions of people in West Africa whose lives are not impacted by Ebola. Christianity is huge in West Africa, and Christmas is certainly a time of hope, celebration, and family gatherings (like us, many people go back to West Africa for the Christmas holidays).

Second, some feel the lyrics are patronizing – the white savior stepping in to help black Africa.

A Nigerian entrepreneur has responded to Geldof’s Band-Aid 30 Song with a campaign of her own. She created a website and enlisted social media to encourage contributions to combat Ebola without what she regards as the negative image from Geldof’s work.

She says, “Ebola is terrible and is inflicting devastation in some communities, it’s important to put things in context. Africa has a population of one billion people and whilst one part of it is suffering, the continent is still thriving and is open for business.”

But she can’t raise money like Geldof! What do you think?

Protesting Ferguson

On Saturday afternoon I joined 45 or 50 other people in Westport to protest the decisions of the grand juries in their failure to indict white police officers who killed unarmed black men. I already told you about the vigil at the Unitarian Church. This time, we were on the bridge in downtown Westport where there was heavy traffic. The banner we held at the church vigil two weeks before was displayed on the bridge.

The people you see in the photo were across the street from me.

Susan and Dolores from TEAM Westport were there, and Gloria Sugarman, wife of civil rights activist, artist, and writer Tracy Sugarman, came. We stood with hands raised or held signs. Many drivers waved and honked their horns to signify agreement. One shouted an obscenity. It was cold, and as the sun got low in the sky the air turned even colder. But I felt it was important to show up.

Christmas Music

Sunday morning brought music – our annual pre-Christmas concert at the 11 am service at The Unitarian Church in Westport.

A church member took the photo as we rehearsed right before the concert and sent it to Westport Now. You can see our Minister of Music Dr. Ed Thompson, at the piano, clarinet soloist Ruth Ahlers, and members of the choir as we rehearsed the traditional Hanukkah song “Hanerot Halalu.”

I love singing. And I love reading Ed’s program notes. Here’s an example of what he wrote about the first song: “Rejoice Ye Shining Worlds: This song was found in a source called The American Harmony (1771). I heard it on a recording and found the manuscript at the Yale Rare Book Library.”

He has such dedication to his art and to sharing it. Isn’t it wonderful?

Then after every concert he sends an email to thank the singers. I”ve never seen him more effusive in his praise of our singing, and the soprano soloist, Marcella, was even more effusive in her praise of his composing of the song she sang. It was all such fun, and I know it brought joy to the audience.

And with that, I sign off until January. We leave for Nigeria on December 18. I will return with lots of photos and stories in January.

I wish you all happy holidays, with snow if you want it, and family and friends around you.