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Well known African musicians, bands and poets have come  together for the campaign, "Africans Act 4 Africa" to help raise awareness and funds for the worsening famine problem in East Africa. Youssou N'Dour from Senegal, Sara Mitaru, Nameless, Juliani and Sauti Sol from Kenya, P-Square and Asa from Nigeria, and poet Maya Wegeris from Tanzania are all throwing their support behind the campaign. Sara Mitaru, is organizing the event, and has been using social media to spread the word and call on her other fellow musicians in Africa to help out. “The response has been overwhelming, like nothing I have seen in Africa for the last ten years,” she said. “Everyone’s response has been the same, they want to be involved. We all agree that it is completely and utterly wrong for people here to be dying, when we have the power to change that. ”

The UN has reported it has a shortfall of $1.3 billion of the $2.4 billion needed to help alleviate the suffering. 6 of the 48 countries in Africa have helped, South Africa, Sudan, Namibia, Botswana, Kenya and Ethiopia but the other 42 have not pledged funds yet. “That is simply unacceptable,” said Ms. Mitaru. A fundraising conference is set for August 25th, and the hope is leaders will give generously to the aid groups. They also want to convince countries to invest in long term infrastructure projects to help prevent future droughts from being so disastrous as this one. Oxfam is one of the aid groups involved, and the Pan-Africa director, Irungu Houghton, has said the response so far had been “wholly inadequate. That’s why this campaign is so important,” he said. “It’s a powerful way of showing our leaders that there are issues which are not domestic, but which still require their action. This is a pan-African crisis and the government of Nigeria for example, should help even though the people affected are not the ones voting for you as a Nigerian politician. ”

Individuals wanting to help out with the cause can do these things:

• Use social media to connect and raise awareness by going to the Act  4 Africa Facebook Page.

• Follow the campaign's Twitter account: @africansact

One can also go the campaign's website and help out by recycling used cell phones, volunteering, donating, and many other things. They are also giving away a car in a raffle. Please check out their website at act4africa.org.

Here is a video of many African musicians and bands asking for support in the cause:

Bob Marley's song, "High Tide or Low Tide" has been released by "Save The Children" to raise awareness and much needed funds for East Africa's desperate situation, for the groundbreaking new "I'm Gonna Be Your Friend" campaign. This campaign is getting the support of many musicians, including Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, U2, Eminem, Beyonce, Elton John, Coldplay, Robert Plant, Kanye West, Britney Spears, Madonna, Brian May, Sting, Rhianna, Jennifer Lopez, and many more. There are millions of lives facing starvation and lack of clean water in East Africa, and if we don't act tens of millions of children will die. On the "Save The Children" website, it says, "Bob's music has always conveyed a message of  unity and love. And this is a message needed now more than ever."

"High Tide and Low Tide" was specially chosen by the Marley family for the resonance of the single’s lyrics, “I’m Gonna Be Your Friend”. In a statement Rita Marley said, "Not one child should be denied food nor water. Not one child should suffer. Along with Save the Children, we must stand up together as friends to put a stop to this, to feed our children and to save their lives." Justin Forsyth, CEO of Save the Children said, "Save the Children, along with other aid agencies, is already supporting families with food, water and medicines. But the crisis is getting worse by the day and millions of children are facing starvation. We can stop this happening. But we need to act now. Every day counts. Please help us by downloading this powerful single and let’s stop this catastrophe getting any worse."

To help out, one can do the following:

• Go to Bob Marley's Facebook page and join the network that has swelled to hundreds of thousands of people.

• Download the song from iTunes, or other music outlets, the proceeds will help the cause.

• Donate to the East Africa Appeal on ImGonnaBeYourFriend.org

• Watch the accompanying short film by award-winning director Kevin MacDonald.

• Spread the word: Tell friends and family about this campaign and ask them to help.

Rapper will.i.am has launched a campaign called "i.am.FIRST: Science is Rock and Roll" to promote science and technology, and has used his own money to air a special on ABC highlighting a robot competition called "My Robot is Better that Your Robot". The musician has been teaming up with FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization started by Dean Kamon, inventor and entrepreneur, to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology.

Check out FIRST's website by going to usfirst.org.

The special will air on Sunday, August 14th on ABC, and will feature young people in a competition centered around robotic technology, and hopes to spark the imagination and creativity of young people to get interested in science. In a PSA (watch below), he and other musicians, such as Steve Tyler of Aerosmith to Jack Black, point out how the smartphones we rely on so much these days were invented by geeks and nerds and we should embrace and celebrate science. There will also be performances by the Black Eyed Peas, Bono, Justin Timberlake and Justin Bieber. 

For more information, check out i.am.FIRST's site by going here:
http://iamfirst.dipdive.com/

MTV has announced it will be adding a new category for videos that featured a positive social message or raised awareness of issues that are important to today's youth for this year's Video Music Awards show. The new category, called "Best Video With a Message", is in recognition of the many artists that have come out recently with gripping videos that centered around key issues for many young people today, and spoke out against bullying, discrimination against gays, and promoted self-empowerment. Some of the socially active artists have been Pink, who recently came out with a powerful video "F***** Perfect", which dealt with female self-empowerment, and Rise Against did "Make it Stop (September's Children)", a video speaking out against gay teens being bullied at school.

Stephen Friedman, MTV's president, said in a statement, "During the past year, we've seen a remarkable number of artists use their music to explore deeply personal experiences and issues they were passionate about to create powerful videos that resonated with and inspired millions of their fans." The videos that were nominated are:

Eminem and Rihanna - "Love the Way You Lie"

A video that illuminates the pain and perils of domestic violence.

Katy Perry - "Firework"

Celebrating the spark and originality in all of us.

Lady Gaga - "Born This Way"

Mother Monster gives birth to a world free from prejudice, judgment and self- doubt.

Pink - "F****** Perfect"

Pink lets out a cry of reassurance for anyone who's ever felt less than perfect.

Rise Against - "Make it Stop (September's Children)"

Rise Against reminds LBGT teens pushed to the edge that "It gets better".

Taylor Swift - "Mean"

Taylor cautions negative naysayers that being mean gets you nowhere.

To check out the videos and to VOTE for the best "social activist" video, go the MTV website by clicking here.

NukeFree.org's Harvey Wasserman, who has been closely working with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash, blogged the other day about "MUSE2 gathering" (Musicians United for Safe Energy); a musical concert to promote safe energy and to raise funds for victims of the Fukushima disaster. The concert reunites Raitt, Browne, Nash, CSN, the the Doobie Brothers, Sweet Honey in the Rock and John Hall from the first MUSE concert in 1979.

Wasserman mentions how "Music has been a unifying, empowering force for social movements for decades", and how it was present in the labor struggle, the civil rights struggle, and during the 1960s social revolution. The first MUSE concert was held in 1979 after the melt-down at Three Mile Island in 1979. It was a 5-night concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. It featured Springsteen, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Peter Tosh, and the 7 bands mentioned above.

Read the Blog below, and for more information please visit Nukefree.org and Musicians United for Safe Energy website. Below you will find a clip of the 1979 "No Nuke" concerts held in New York.

Green Music Returns to Confront Atomic Power
by Harvey Wasserman
(From: NukeFree.org)

Amidst a life-and-death struggle to finally shut the nuclear energy industry, the power of green music flows again this Sunday. 

It's also pouring over the Internet, as the historic all-day MUSE2 gathering is staged at the Shoreline Amphitheatre south of San Francisco, re-uniting Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Crosby-Stills-Nash, the Doobie Brothers, John Hall, Sweet Honey in the Rock and many more who'll sing to benefit victims of the Fukushima disaster and promote a green-powered Earth.

The concert runs from 3pm through the evening Pacific Time and comes as the nuclear power industry desperately seeks federal funding to build new reactors while fighting a tsunami of citizen opposition demanding the shut-down of aging radioactive power stations.

Music has been a unifying, empowering force for social movements for decades. The labor union movement used it during strikes and solidarity marches. It was at the heart of the most powerful campaigns for civil rights. A whole generation's demand for peace in Vietnam got electrified with rock and roll.

And yet another round of citizen activism against nuclear power has been put to music from the grassroots and the sound stage, including that of Musicians United for Safe Energy.