Ever since I heard about the ONE Campaign several years ago (a wonderful cause, click above to read about it), I have grown in my admiration of U2 rock star Bono, who is the driving force behind that effort. At first, as my cynical side kicked in, I viewed him with some level of skepticism, thinking he was one of these celebrities who thought more of himself than he ought. But an interview I heard him give once caught my attention, when I heard him say the following (I'm paraphrasing, but this is pretty close):
"Celebrity is a funny thing. It completely up-ends the natural order of things. Why should an actor or a singer be more honored than a mother or a fireman? But, the reality is that I have this thing called celebrity, and it is a currency. I just choose to use my currency on something that will make a difference."
In addition to a good motive, Bono does something that many do not, and that is he strategizes. Rather than just throwing money at something to appease his conscience and win accolades, he meets with and plans with leading thinkers and strategists concerning how to fight against global poverty and AIDS in Africa. That is how the One Campaign started, and that has been successful in bringing together people as far from each other as George Clooney and Pat Robertson to fight for something that goes so far beyond their individual differences.
And it is this strategizing that led to the recent launch of (PRODUCT)
RED, a powerful,
sustainable effort to raise money to provide anti-retroviral medicine to those suffering from AIDS in Africa. Rather than my going into great detail here, visit their
website (www.joinred.com), particularly noting the
Manifesto, which explains the mission statement of the organization. And see the
Global Fund link for more information about how the money is used. They also maintain
an excellent blog telling about the efforts and activities around the world.
Now, as I shift to the reason you are likely at my blog in the first place, let me just note that (PRODUCT)
RED clearly knows the gay community is a key demographic to target, because the cause is something we are more aware about than the average person and because we love to shop! So, they have found various celebrities to pose for ads for the campaign, including the handsome Don Cheadle (I want to see the rest of this picture series!) and hot speed-skating champion Apolo Ohno (speechless...).
Also, as you are looking around to see how you can help fight for the needs of those in Africa, you can still enjoy looking at the Gap models showing off their clothing line...
Oh, and this has absolutely nothing to do with the red stuff, but I love this picture of Apolo Ohno....
So check out the (PRODUCT)
RED campaign. I know there are tons of "causes" clamoring for our attention, and I know many of them are worthwhile. But perhaps one or two of you who read this might be motivated to be involved in this good effort. I lived in Africa for a while, so I have seen the devastation this disease causes firsthand. And Bono has done something few before him have even come close to accomplishing in raising the world's awareness of the plight of people who (in his words), due to "an accident of longitude and latitude" are dying in silence and will continue to do so unless those of us living much more privileged lives are willing to get off our butts and do something about it.
Today's Holidays:
- World Development Information Day
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