Annie Lennox SING's Woman of Peace

For those that may not have been paying attention, AIDS has not been cured. Nor has the number of people getting HIV stopped. It's not popular to talk about such things, but that may be part of why Annie Lennox has been doing just that.

Annie Lennox has been probably best known for her music career. She is a Scottish singer and acclaimed for her many albums and remarkable voice. It is that same voice that gathered 23 female singers to release their own versions of a song called SING. The proceeds of this went to help South Africans via the Treatment Action Campaign. So far SING has raised over $2,000,000.



In honor of her efforts, and her continuing work to fight AIDS and help women and children especially in South African, Annie Lennox has received the Woman of the Peace award for 2009. The award was presented to her at a summit of Nobel Peace laureates in Berlin (President Obama was not present).

I love to discuss and share the contributions made by entertainers and celebrities for people in need across the world. I share the concern of Lennox and others over the fight against AIDS and prevention of HIV. I just wish the rest of the media would do the same.

Tens of millions still contract AIDS and HIV every year. Even in the U.S. HIV and AIDS continues to be a threat. There is no cure. HIV/AIDS afflicts people of every walk of life. Rich and poor, Black, White, Latino, Asian, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, male and female - all alike. Anyone having unprotected sex is potentially capable of contracting HIV and AIDS.

I commend Anne Lennox on her devotion to saving lives and caring for the sick. I congratulate her on her well earned award.

I just wish that other, more political rockstars, one day earn the awards and praise they have received for doing absolutely nothing except smiling. And yes, that is a dig at President Obama.

In My Name - Will.i.am, celebrites, dignitaries, and you around the world

I realize that over the last couple of weeks the main issue facing the nation has been the bailout of the financial markets, and the mortgage crisis that spurred it. But that is hardly the only thing that has been happening in the world, or this nation.

While the major news media has been forecasting bail out deal after bailout deal, which keeps getting denied by various Senators and Representatives, and predicting what might or might not happen if the deal does or does not get done they have forgotten to cover celebrities, entertainers, and dignitaries that are reminding the world of the promises made to end poverty and combat disease.

In 2000 world leaders came together in the United Nations to create the Millennium Development Goals. The promise was to end poverty in the world, reduce those afflicted by pr the potential of diseases like Malaria and AIDS, increase access to healthcare, and improve the opportunity and quality of education by 2015. We are now halfway to that date, and far too many nations have forgotten about the promise they made. But concerned people have not.

Will.i.am has been in the forefront of multiple celebrities, entertainers, and world dignitaries and Youtube in generating attention to the promise made by our leaders. For 2 days he and Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Scarlett Johansson, Annie Lennox, John Legend, Wyclef Jean, Fergie, Angelique Kidjo, Kristin Davis, Elle Macpherson and many others, not to mention organizations including GCAP, Oxfam International, Save the Children and Comic Relief, have joined together to create the new channel on Youtube called “in my name”.

On this channel you the public and citizenry of the world have the opportunity to introduce yourself, your nation, and your message to the leaders of the world and your country to live up to the promises they made in 2000. Youtube will be accepting your videos, or video pettion if you prefer, until November 1st. At that point Will.i.am will be taking the best videos and mashing-up to form a single video set to the new song In My Name (dedicated to this cause) that will be presented to the entire United Nations.

We can only hope that world leaders will be moved by this expression of international care and attention. We must demand that moved or not, world leaders act as they have promised us they will. I am reminded of a line from a great movie you may have seen (and if you didn’t go see it) called V for Vendetta

“People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.”

The fear in this case is that we, the people have not forgotten what was promised on our behalf, nor those that are in need. That we hold the true power our Governments use, and determine how that power should be used.

The major media may not care that so many across the world remember the promises made, but I like many others do. And I believe that me must be held to our words. Because the world is not a varying number of individual countries but in the end just a collection of people, and none deserve to live in poverty or with sickness or in hunger.