How Music Came To The World

Invitee blogpost by Natasa Kokic, Ane member and volunteer

ONE volunteers at the U2 concert in Brussels back in 2010!

Today sees the kicking-off of U2's iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE bout in Europe. Over the next few weeks, stages and stadiums across Europe will exist lit upwards with music, with joy, with euphoria. Throats volition be raw, tears will be shed, but above all, powerful and lasting memories will be made.

As a music lover and long-time social justice activist, a question I've long asked myself is this: How can music assist in making change happen? Here, I'll share some of my thoughts based on my research and personal experience.

Music, as a form of artistic expression, has the advantage of beingness very loud: it attracts attention and influences stance. Information technology tin can help in healing, in breaking down barriers and borders, in reconciling, and it can too educate. Every bit a cultural right, music can help to promote and protect other human rights (civil, political, economic or social).

At that place are many amazing examples of music existence used as a tool for social change effectually the globe. In my academic research on this topic, I've focused on the situations that inspire me the near: at the local level – in Belfast, Northern Ireland (Oh Yeah Music Middle and work of Terri Hooley) and at the global level – the appointment of anti-poverty group I and homo rights organisation Amnesty International.

You but accept to walk into Belfast's Oh Yep Music Centre or chat with Northern Irish music icon Terri Hooley to see how a securely damaged order can start recovering through music. Oh Yeah, which has a permanent music exhibition, recording studio and songwriting studio, gathers people of all ages and helps them grow and live through music. During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Terri Hooley'south Good Vibrations (tape shop and record label), became a shelter and a coming together point for musicians and non-musicians alike who wanted to escape the horror. Terri encouraged people to find their inspiration in music instead of taking up weapons, demonstrating the ability of music to unite people.

Terri Hooley in front of a mural in the Cathedral quarter, Belfast, last November…

Several organisations have caught on to that power and used music as a tool for change. The almost inspiring and encouraging case of activist groups involving musicians, for me, is that of Ane and Immunity International. For Amnesty, musician engagement began with concerts during the '80s and continued with setting up of Art for Amnesty, an astonishing initiative gathering artists from various fields who support human rights. The number of artists giving their voice to back up Amnesty'southward activities and to push for social change is growing every day.

And what nearly ONE? I would say that I was in role born out of musicians having the idea of making a difference through music. Just remember about Make Poverty History and the Alive eight concerts. I was lucky plenty to experience the launch of ONE's agit8 campaign, which pushed leaders to accept action against extreme poverty at the 2013 G8 acme through worldwide performances of protest songs.

A particularly uplifting experience was the U2 360 tour when ONE, together with Amnesty International and Burma Entrada, was present at each of the 110 tour concerts from 2009 to 2011. People were encouraged to join One and to help make a difference. A truly unforgettable moment was during the song 'Walk On', when the unabridged audition put on masks of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's confront, and the volunteers – including myself – came onstage also wearing masks. Each concert would bring a feeling of promise that those present were fix to make a divergence.

Then, what about now? Today, we find ourselves at a unique turning point in terms of global evolution. A huge amount of progress has been made and then far, from drastic drops in immature children'south death rates, to tape numbers of people on life-saving HIV treatment, to huge strides in access to safe drinking water. But there is notwithstanding a whole lot more to be done.

This month, the globe will hold on a new blueprint to wipe extreme poverty from the face up of the earth. For all of us who love music and desire to evidence our support for this cause, nosotros can make our voices heard. Yous can become involved with ONE at tonight's U2 gig in Turin, or at whatever other concert during the tour.

Yous can become a volunteer for ONE at the concerts here. Or, you can join ONE right now, and become function of a global movement of nearly seven million people fighting against farthermost poverty and preventable affliction. Now's our risk – permit's seize it!

Join

Join the fight against farthermost poverty

E-mail Join

Source: https://www.one.org/international/blog/how-music-can-change-the-world/

Share this post