I am sending you back in time. Back to 1985 before the Dot Com generation reported to Kindergarten and majority were not born yet. During that year and the year prior, there was a devastating famine in our neighboring Ethiopia, a famine that killed hundreds of thousands of people and threatened the lives of millions more. They were in dire need. The humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia made headlines around the globe with images of skeletal looking adults cradling dying children on their laps, with the dead scattered everywhere you looked. The world was shocked to see those images. Some people were shaken to their core and appalled for a moment but soon continued with their lives disregarding what they just saw. Others got down on their knees and prayed while others let it pass as a news item from a distant land that had no bearing to their lives.
However in the U.S.A, some two African American men, one a famous music producer named Quincy Jones and the other a famous musician named Lionel Richie decided to do something about the situation in Ethiopia. They used their fame and star power to recruit other famous musicians to add their star power to a music composition they had written and produced for a charity event. The song “We are the World” was born. On Good Friday of April 5, 1985, some 8,000 radio stations around the globe agreed to play the “We Are The World” song at a certain hour to reach every corner and every citizen of the world. The project was a staggering success, pushing the global sales of that single album to astronomical heights, raising tonnes of money for sending food to the starving population of Ethiopia. Quincy and Lionel’s initiative and juggernaut success inspired other famous artists all over the world to use their star power to organize similar projects to raise money for Ethiopia. The situation in Ethiopia could no longer be ignored. These two men had awakened the consciousness of the entire world to the unimaginable suffering of the Ethiopian people and they had strongly demonstrated how the world could reach out and make a difference. Churches and NGO’s followed suit, and before the close of 1985, the humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia was averted. What did that take? It took the actions of two black men from the U.S.A, choosing to take the lead, forever changing the way the Western world responded to human disasters around the world. With the lyrics Quincy and Lionel wrote, they called the world to action with powerful words that touched the consciousness of every human being, it was impossible to ignore humanitarian crisis anymore, no matter which corner of our globe they were affecting. “THERE IS A CHOICE WE ARE MAKING, WE ARE SAVING OUR OWN LIVES”.
For our world today, when you reach out to another human being who is in dire need, you are choosing to heal your own conscience, while failure to act in similar circumstances kills your own conscience, which is the worst death of all. That is what that pivotal line in the song reminds us all, then, now and always. We have a choice to make every day, and that choice saves our own life as it lends a helping hand to another human being whose dire circumstances intersects with our lives. Quincy and Lionel did not wait for their powerful U.S.A. government to act. They did not wait for big organizations to act, or sat back hoping somebody else will do something about the human toll they were witnessing. They decided to offer what they had, what they knew best. Music. They had produced plenty of other music before in their careers but “We are the World” became their greatest production yet, and that one song mobilized an entire world to action. What can we learn from that? To never wait. Instead, to act now. Act with what you have already. It may not seem like much at this moment, but done with the right intentions, your one act that seems small to begin with can inspire a movement that creates ripple effects around your family, community, nation even the entire world. Act now. Someone’s life could be saved or changed forever by something you already have RIGHT NOW as you are reading this. Save your own life as you heed a certain call. Here is the inspirational video and lyrics there below:
WE ARE THE WORLD – USA FOR AFRICA 1985
There comes a time
When we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
Oh, and it’s time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can’t go on
Pretending day-by-day
That someone, somewhere soon make a change
We’re all a part of God’s great big family
And the truth, you know, love is all we needWe are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and meOh, send them your heart
So they know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stones to bread
And so we all must lend a helping hand
We are the world
We are the…
That production of U.S.A for Africa prompted others to create similar music for Ethiopia. David Foster, a great music producer from Canada, wrote “Tears are not enough”. Like Quincy and Lionel, David gathered the best of Canadian musicians and actors and produced the beautiful music “Tears are not enough” to raise funds for Ethiopia. They called themselves The Northern Lights. And lights they were, shinning bright for Ethiopia as they rallied the world to raise tonnes of money to send food to the starving people of Ethiopia. Here is their beautiful composition and lyrics there below:
TEARS ARE NOT ENOUGH – NORTHERN LIGHTS 1985
As every day goes by
How can we close our eyes
Until we open up our hearts
We can learn to share
And show how much we care
Right from the moment that we start
Seems like overnight
We see the world in a different light
Somehow our innocence is lost
How can we look away
‘Cause every single day
We’ve got to help at any cost.We can bridge the distance
Only we can make the difference
Don’ t ya know that tears are not enoughIf we can pull together
We could change the world forever
Heaven knows that tears are not enough.It’s up to me and you
To make the dream come true
It’s time to take our message everywhere
C’est l’ amour qui nous rassemble
D’ici’ l’autre bout du monde
Let’s show them Canada still cares
Oooh You know that we’ll be there.We can bridge the distance…
From the above inspirational works of Quincy, Lionel and David, here is my take:
We all have a responsibility. We all have something we can offer. A farmer helping his neighbor harvest his crop. A teacher staying behind to help a weak student whose parents cannot afford extra coaching. A colleague sharing the workload of a single parent who needs to leave early to pick up their sick child from school. An elected official who faithfully does the business of his constituents without looting public funds. A young person visiting an elderly neighbor who lives alone to see if they need anything or just to keep them company. An elected official who gathers his wealthy friends and establishes bursaries and other welfare accounts to help his needy constituents. A young student on holiday who offers to babysit for an overwhelmed mother just to give her a much needed break. There is need everywhere you look and everybody has something to offer. There are those with money, others have time while others have skills and talents they can share to help others out. All we have to remember is that “THERE IS A CHOICE WE ARE MAKING, WE ARE SAVING OUR OWN LIVES”.
This brings me to the 1996 Olympic Games held in Atlanta, USA. Celine Dion belted out a powerful song that was written and produced by David Foster, the same Canadian who wrote and organized his fellow Canadians for the 1985 “Tears are not enough” project for Ethiopia. Call me sentimental, but I passionately feel every human being, young or old, rich or poor, educated or not should internalize and own the lyrics David wrote. I find them so inspiring and they almost sound like an anthem of proclamations. “And every boy and girl as they come into this world, bring the gift of hope and inspiration” That’s a powerful reminder that you are born with something special inside of you. The world did not give it to you. You came into this world already equipped with it, and that is why the world cannot take it away from you. Unleash your God given gifts and lets make a difference in our families, communities, work places, eventually covering the entire world because “We are the World” and “Tears are not Enough” to fix our problems, that is why we need to unleash the “Power of the Dream”. Here is the beautiful music video and lyrics there below:
POWER OF THE DREAM – CELINE DION, ATLANTA OLYMPICS 1996
Deep within each heart
There lies a magic spark
That lights the fire of our imagination
And since the dawn of man
The strength of just ‘I can’
Has brought together people of all nations
There’s nothin’ ordinary in the living of each day
There’s a special part everyone of us will play
Feel the flame forever burn
Teaching lessons we must learn
To bring us closer to the power of the dreamAs the world gives us it’s best
To stand apart from all the rest
It is the power of the dream that brings us hereYour mind will take you far
the rest is just your heart
you’ll find your fate is all your own creation
And every boy and girl as they come into this world
Bring the gift of hope and inspirationThe world unites in hope and peace
We pray that it will always be
It is the power of the dream that brings us hereThere’s so much strength in all of us
Every woman, child and man
It’s the moment that you think you can’t
you’ll discover that you canThe power of the dream
Faith in things unseen
Courage to embrace your fears
No matter where you are
To reach for your own starTo realize the power of the dream
To realize the power of the dream…..
My final thoughts on the above music inspiration:
I love music because it bears a universal language. If you pay attention to the lyrics, you may get some inspirational message, no matter when or where the music was made. Keep paying attention, you never know when a word or a line can change your thinking, in turn changing your perspective on life itself.
