Tag: Justice Through Music

Dionne Warwick will attend a Harlem Town Hall along with doctors, patients, activists, and a few show business friends (Rosie Perez, Michael Kenneth Williams from “The Wire,” Sheryl Lee Ralph from “Dreamgirls”) and join in a discussion of AIDS, its effects on urban communities, and steps being taken to find treatments and an eventual cure. Ms. Warwick has been involved in AIDS awareness and activism since the 1980s, when her valet started being diagnosed with the disease.

Read more here.

Tom Morello, aka “The Nightwatchman”, was on Real Time with Bill Maher last night, and he talked about censorship, and he let his feelings known on the issue of musicians and bands, and for that matter any worker, speaking out on the issues they care about. They first discussed censorship, where Tom pointed out how after 9/11 there was a list of songs radio stations were asked not to play; like for instance “Imagine” by John Lennon, “Walk Like and Egyptian”, the Gap Band’s “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” and others.

Tom proudly proclaimed, “From that entire list, there was only one band where their entire catalogue was singled out, and that was my band, Rage Against the Machine”. The audience roared with approval and screamed out “Yeah!” He went on to say, “There was a message behind that. No one can say anything. It was a time where there should have been a great deal of debate. Why did this [9/11] really happen? What’s going on? Is there more to it than crazy guys on planes? That was a time when everyone we should have been able to speak their minds fully and completely, and let’s have a better understanding. ”

(click Read More for rest of story and video)

Entertainers Ashanti, Jennifer Lopez and Ne-Yo, along with other celebrities such as Ron Howard and Denzel Washington, appear in a PSA asking for support of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, showing how young people, especially minorities, need places to go such as music schools and libraries. Ron Howard directed the PSA, which launches the "Great Futures Start Here" campaign, and you can watch it below. 

Check out the Press Release here.

Rap-musician and activist Lupe Fiasco tweeted (click here to read tweet and see pic) to let his fans know he was donating 50 tents for Occupy Wall Street, in a show of solidarity with the movement. One of the "sponsors" of the event is Adbusters.org, and on their website it states, "The time has come to deploy this emerging stratagem against the greatest corrupter of our democracy: Wall Street, the financial Gomorrah of America." In addition, Lupe Fiasco also wrote a poem. (click "Read More" below to read poem)

On August 18, 2001, rock bands Maroon 5 and Train played a benefit concert in Indianapolis, Indiana for the victims of the tragedy at the state fair last month. The concert was originally scheduled to play at the fair, but the event was rescheduled and moved to Conseco Fieldhouse, and they agreed to donate their performance fees, and profits from concession sales. Fans in the audience could help donate via a text message on their cell phones. Train guitarist Jimmy Stafford said, "Everybody wins. We can help the families, we can still perform, and the fans still get to see a show."

More than $500,000 for the victims and their families was raised, and you can see some pictures of the event at IndyStar.com.

Also, Sara Bareilles donated the proceeds from ticket sales from one of her recent shows to the victims and their families, read more here. Please help us spread music activist news and register voters by donating to JTMP here, and to help out the Indiana State Fair Victim Fund, go here.