April 25, 2024
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April Update from Amnesty International: Concerts for Human Rights

As a way to say Thank You to the Herkimer College community for your support of our chapter of Amnesty International, we are sharing information about the Concerts for Human Rights, sponsored by Amnesty International, from 1988 to 1998.

The most high-profile of all the concerts in the series – “The Human Rights Now!” world tour, featured a six-week, five-continent, 20-concert tour of the world in 1988 and was headlined by Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and Youssou N’Dour.

It was seen by over one million people in-person and experienced by millions more on television and radio.

The purpose of these concerts was to raise awareness of the cause of universal human rights, the historic 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Amnesty International’s work.

https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

“Musicians innately understand key components of human rights such as freedom of expression. It’s at the heart of what they do,” said Martin Lewis, producer of the tours. “Ever since Pete Townshend’s pioneering performance for Amnesty in 1979, the rock music community has been spectacular in its support for Amnesty. These concerts broke new ground in galvanizing audiences to become involved. They fused cause and content in an inspirational way….”

Excerpts from these concerts will be available for viewing in RMCC in May. Watch this space for details. In the meantime, these concerts can be streamed from your favorite streaming platform on your own or with friends while continuing to take action on the featured cases from last month’s General article, from which you can advocate the featured cases.                                                               

 https://thegeneral.herkimer.edu/march-update-from-amnesty-international/

Please continue to visit the Amnesty International Club table, in the library vestibule, for other opportunities for human rights advocacy, freebie materials and to sign up for our monthly drawing.