Live8 update

From http://www.live8live.com/:

The greatest act of mass advocacy in political history.

We invited you on a long walk and you went all the way. You are a great peaceful army of 3 billion who walked for those who could barely crawl. And you won.

From http://www.one.org/g8countdown.html:

On July 8, 2005, the leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) committed to a comprehensive package of aid to Africa. British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced the G8 would

• increase aid to Africa by $25 billion, more than a doubling of 2004 levels;
  
• increase global assistance by around $50 billion per year by 2010;
  
• provide near-universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment drugs;
  
• cancel the debt of some of the world's poorest nations; and
  
• address trade reforms in the near future.
  

And now from me:

I never expected these concerts to inform or educate the entire world. However, "more than 1 million fans united for 10 free concerts across the globe" (see CNN). Then there were all those couch potatoes at home (and who knows how many of us there were). Also, AOL will continue to have the concerts available through the end of the summer (you can watch videos of the concerts or listen to them via AOL Radio).

That's an awful lot of education and awareness. That's an awful lot of people who learned something they didn't know before. And though not everyone watching signed the petitions that were sent to the G8, a healthy number of them did.

I do agree that the media failed on this one. I do not agree that the concerts themselves did. The goal was to raise awareness and to educate people around the world. Reports say that there were over 1 million people in attendance. For those who didn't attend or watch, what you may not realize is that you could not be there and you could not have MTV or VH1 on without learning something. There were speakers explaining what was going on, there were giant TVs airing bits from MTV and one.org that explain the point, the goals. There were screens up that showed the members of the G8 as the performers were on stage. There were ticker tape type screens that were constantly running with messages about the day. Again, though the media didn't manage to educate those who didn't attend or watch, the organizers and performers (and MTV and VH1) did an excellent job of educating those who did.

Then there are the actual results from the G8, which I listed above.

As always, this is not a one-time event. We can't expect one day of concerts to be the end. MTV and VH1 both aired uninterrupted footage of some of the highlights this weekend. MTV has a next steps show airing. The white one bracelets are popping up all over the place. Though some say the plastic-bracelet craze has become too hip to actually be helpful, I disagree with that, too. Yes, some collect and wear them just because they're hip. However, they still start conversations. People still ask what this color or that supports or represents. As long as the bracelets continue to provoke the questions, then I say they're still helping.

If you still don't really know what this is all about, check out the MTV and VH1 news pages. Go to one.org and the LIVE 8 website to learn more about it all. Because I agree with the comment from D, "Your point about making a gesture, no matter how small, is valid. Perhaps mine can be paying attention to what's going on in the world around me."

What is it they say on NBC? "The more you know..."