CELEBRITY HEALED WORLD ALLIES
The World's Top 5 Activists
The cover story of February’s Newsweek was about George Clooney and how his work at the ground level has impacted the lives of many in Sudan. Clooney is not one to make a hue and cry of his work, and yet one cannot deny its magnificence and his perseverance in doing the job of a “celebrity statesman”. The sexiest man alive has very subtly directed the world’s attention to where it is needed the most.
The following are just a few of the celebrities who I feel deserve a mention because of the work that they are doing:-
GEORGE CLOONEY:
George Clooney in Sudan
George Clooney along with his father started work in Sudan 2005. Initially he was under the impression that philanthropy might work. But he realized that the situation on the ground was more difficult than could be perceived by the façade. If a house and a well were provided to one family, the neighbouring family who did not have these resources would resort to violence to steal it for themselves. To seek a more permanent solution to Darfur’s problems which range from lack of cultivable land, water resources to poor policy of the government and genocide, Clooney decided to make the voices of the people of Sudan heard across the world. Using his star power and sheer determination, he helped lubricate and catalyze diplomatic talks between the northern and southern regions of Sudan and had a role to play in US deploying a diplomat to Sudan. Many believe that the referendum to separate South Sudan from the North would not have happened without his help.
BONO:
Bono is working for the ONE Campaign – an anti-poverty organisation to mobilize Americans into action
Clooney drew the inspiration to work by means of international awareness and diplomacy from Bono’s model implemented through the ONE Campaign and (RED). The U2 singer has cofounded the ONE Campaign along with other campaigners which uses advocacy as a means to hold world leaders responsible for the commitments they have made to their people. Essentially, the ONE Campaign was started as a battle against poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa by raising awareness and pressurizing leaders into following policies which will save lives, ensure distribution of resources and higher literacy levels. In March 2002, Bono and some other celebrities worked on the “Drop the Debt” Movement, following which they got together to form the DATA (debt, AIDS, trade, Africa). This organisation focussed on debt relief, AIDS prevention and reform in unfair trade rules and also promoted democratization and greater transparency of governments. This organisation collaborated with 10 other anti-poverty organisations (Bread for the World Institute, CARE USA, International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Oxfam America, Plan USA, Save the Children, World Concern, World Vision) to start ONE.
OPRAH WINFREY:
Oprah inaugurating the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls
Oprah Winfrey, one of the best known faces of television in the west, had a tough childhood where she had to deal with poverty and sexual abuse. In 1997, she started Oprah’s Angel Network which has worked in impoverished regions in numerous countries to establish schools, provide school supplies, provide life-changing assistance for women and girls and has also worked on building homes for those who were rendered homeless during after hurricane Katrina. In 2002, along with Nelson Mandela, the foundation of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for girls was laid in South Africa. This school officially started in 2007, with around $40 million of personal contributions from Winfrey through the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation.
ANGELINA JOLIE:
Angelina on one of her UNHCR Missions
Angleina Jolie is one of the best known faces in Hollywood. Using her celebrity and her sheer will to do something for the world, Angelina has gained popularity through persistent social activism around the world. In 2001, Angelina Jolie was named the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. Her journey began in Sierra Leonne, a country ravaged by civil war, and she raised awareness through camps about the inhuman treatment of refugees. She has visited over 20 countries in the world to highlight the plight of the millions of poor and to try to bring help to these people. After she visited Afghanistan in 2008, she highlighted the need for reintegrating returnees and urged for humanitarian aid to the nation. She has also partnered with Global Health Committee to start the Maddox Chivan Children’s Center to bring relief to children in Cambodia infected with HIV. International Campaign to Ban Landmines was another organisation with which she has worked.
LEONARDO DICAPRIO:
The 11th Hour- A feature documentary produced by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation was started by DiCaprio in the year 1998 in order to further the cause of environmental protection by focussing on global warming, preservation of biodiversity and exploring renewable sources of energy production. He also supported World Wide Fund’s Save Tiger Now by donating $1million. Since childhood he has been moved by the degradation of our environment, depletion of natural resources, etc and his popularity now has lead to a wider outreach to audiences regarding the environmental concerns he is raising. In 2001, his Foundation was honoured with the Martin Litton Environmental Warrior Award. The Foundation produced two short films and also the feature documentary film The 11th Hour.
John Lennon said, “They say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” There are so many other public figures who share this dream of making the world a better place. Sean Penn, for example, has founded the J/P Haitian Relief Organisation to provide housing and medical care for disaster-wrecked Haitians, and Elton John who founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation to help those living with HIV/AIDS across the world. Alicia Keys too has cofounded Keep a Child Alive support AIDS orphans in Africa and provide medication to AIDS patients.
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Views of a Few Global Change Agents
Sir David Attenborough
"Thequestion is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may neverbe able to see an elephant except in a picture book? And if the answeris no, then
people worldwide have got to say: 'Yes, elephants are aglory and a splendour and a wonder and we should not be responsible fortheir disappearance. And we are
prepared to do something about it'."
He emphasises further the need to take action for wildlife: "The fate of the creatures which share our planet lies entirely at the handof mankind - it is
within our power to protect them or watch them become.
"We'll only get people to care for the environment if they know something about it" Sir David says, "Youcan only get really unpopular decisions through if
the electorate isconvinced of the value of the environment. That's what natural history programs should be for." In the programme
"Life in the Undergrowth" David Attenborough takes adirect line in warning of the dangers of depleting the earth's biodiversity, insisting that without insects
humans would not last long. "If the invertebrates were to disappear, the land's ecosystems would collapse. Wherever we go on land, these small creatures
are Sir David highlights his support of preserving ecosystems rather than focusing purely on species, "The only way to save a rhinoceros is to save the
environment itlives in as there's a mutual dependency between it and millions ofother species of both animals and plants. And it is that range
ofbiodiversity that we must care for - the whole thing - rather than just1 or 2 stars".
Sir David says: "Inhuman nature there is good and evil, and often it is within man'scapacity to destroy the very things we value most. We are at risk
of destroying the very bedrock on which our existence was built.
Princess Diana
HIV does not make people dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands and
give them a hug: Heaven knows they need it.
Everyone of us needs to show how much we care for each other and, in the process, care for ourselves.
Helping people in need is a good and essential part of my life, a kind of destiny.
If there's one thing that I, Steve Irwin, would wanna beremembered for, [I want to] be remembered for passion and enthusiasm.Conservation is my job, my
life, my whole persona.
Steve Irwin
There are many who still do not believe that global warming is aproblem at all. And it's no wonder: because they are the targets of amassive and
well-organized campaign of disinformation lavishly fundedby polluters who are determined to prevent any action to reduce thegreenhouse gas emissions that
cause global warming out of a fear thattheir profits might be affected if they had to stop dumping so muchpollution into the atmosphere.
Al Gore
Climate change is such a huge issue that it requires strong, concerted, consistent and enduring action by governments.
Peter Garrett
In securing the future of the planet, we secure happiness forourselves. One of the aims of the Greens is to turn around the tide ofpessimism amongst the
young people of the world.
Bob Brown
"We areunlimited beings. We have no ceiling. The capabilities and the talentsand the gifts and the power that is within every single individual that is on this planet, is unlimited"- Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith
"A great attitude doesmuch more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magicallyconnect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that
weresomehow absent before the change"- Earl Nightingale
"You can have, do, and be anything you want"- Dr Joe Vitale
"Here is my secret. It is verysimple. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What isessential is invisible to the eye." - Antoine de Saint Exupéry
"Whatever the mind … can conceive it can achieve"- W. Clement Stone
GAHNDI
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless,whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name oftotalitarianism
or the holy name of liberty and democracy?
It may be long before the law oflove will be recognised in international affairs. The machineries ofgovernment stand between and hide the hearts of one
people from those of another.
As soon as we lose the moral basis,we cease to be religious. There is no
such thing as religionover-riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be
untruthful, cruel orincontinent and claim to have God on his side.
There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.
We must be the change we wish to see.
The danger posed by war to all of humanity -and to our planet - is at least matched by the climate crisis and global warming. I believe that t he world has
reached a critical stagein its efforts to exercise responsible environmental stewardship.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Global warming hasmelted the polar ice caps, raised the levels of the oceans and floodedthe earth's great cities. Despite its evident prosperity, New Jersey
isscarcely Utopia.
Godfried Danneels
While human-induced global warming isnot going to turn present-day Earth into present-day Mars, globalwarming is dire enough that our most distinguished
scientists recentlyconcluded that as many as 1 million species on the planet could beextinct by 2050 if affairs do not change.
Jay Inslee
The global warming scenario is pretty grim. I'm not sure I like the idea of polar bears under a palm tree.
Lenny Henry
I want to testify today about what I believe is a planetary emergency - a crisis that threatens the survival of our civilization and thehabitability of the Earth.
Al Gore
All across the world, in every kind of environment and region known to man,increasingly dangerous weather patterns and devastating storms are abruptly
putting an end to the long-running debate over whether or notclimate change is real. Not only is it real, it's here, and its effectsare giving rise to a
frighteningly new global phenomenon: the man-madenatural disaster.
Barack
Obama
Our generation has inherited an incredibly beautiful world from our parents and they from their parents. It is in our hands whether our children and
their children inherit the same world.
Richard Branson
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
Winston Churchill
Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act.
Truman Capote
Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside of you.
Wally 'Famous' Amos
Life has taught us that love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.
Danny Kaye
Where there is love there is life.
Indira Gandhi
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
Martin Luthor King, Jr.
Live dangerously and you live right.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The greatest happiness oflife it the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, orrather, loved in spite of ourselves.
Victor Hugo
I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
The purpose of life is a life of purpose.
Robert Byrne
What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare? -
No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
W. H. Davies
Here are some places where you can go to help.
ONE Campaign
Oprah’s Leadership Academy
Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
United Nations Volunteer
Teach For India
Greenpeace
The cover story of February’s Newsweek was about George Clooney and how his work at the ground level has impacted the lives of many in Sudan. Clooney is not one to make a hue and cry of his work, and yet one cannot deny its magnificence and his perseverance in doing the job of a “celebrity statesman”. The sexiest man alive has very subtly directed the world’s attention to where it is needed the most.
The following are just a few of the celebrities who I feel deserve a mention because of the work that they are doing:-
GEORGE CLOONEY:
George Clooney in Sudan
George Clooney along with his father started work in Sudan 2005. Initially he was under the impression that philanthropy might work. But he realized that the situation on the ground was more difficult than could be perceived by the façade. If a house and a well were provided to one family, the neighbouring family who did not have these resources would resort to violence to steal it for themselves. To seek a more permanent solution to Darfur’s problems which range from lack of cultivable land, water resources to poor policy of the government and genocide, Clooney decided to make the voices of the people of Sudan heard across the world. Using his star power and sheer determination, he helped lubricate and catalyze diplomatic talks between the northern and southern regions of Sudan and had a role to play in US deploying a diplomat to Sudan. Many believe that the referendum to separate South Sudan from the North would not have happened without his help.
BONO:
Bono is working for the ONE Campaign – an anti-poverty organisation to mobilize Americans into action
Clooney drew the inspiration to work by means of international awareness and diplomacy from Bono’s model implemented through the ONE Campaign and (RED). The U2 singer has cofounded the ONE Campaign along with other campaigners which uses advocacy as a means to hold world leaders responsible for the commitments they have made to their people. Essentially, the ONE Campaign was started as a battle against poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa by raising awareness and pressurizing leaders into following policies which will save lives, ensure distribution of resources and higher literacy levels. In March 2002, Bono and some other celebrities worked on the “Drop the Debt” Movement, following which they got together to form the DATA (debt, AIDS, trade, Africa). This organisation focussed on debt relief, AIDS prevention and reform in unfair trade rules and also promoted democratization and greater transparency of governments. This organisation collaborated with 10 other anti-poverty organisations (Bread for the World Institute, CARE USA, International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Oxfam America, Plan USA, Save the Children, World Concern, World Vision) to start ONE.
OPRAH WINFREY:
Oprah inaugurating the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls
Oprah Winfrey, one of the best known faces of television in the west, had a tough childhood where she had to deal with poverty and sexual abuse. In 1997, she started Oprah’s Angel Network which has worked in impoverished regions in numerous countries to establish schools, provide school supplies, provide life-changing assistance for women and girls and has also worked on building homes for those who were rendered homeless during after hurricane Katrina. In 2002, along with Nelson Mandela, the foundation of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for girls was laid in South Africa. This school officially started in 2007, with around $40 million of personal contributions from Winfrey through the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation.
ANGELINA JOLIE:
Angelina on one of her UNHCR Missions
Angleina Jolie is one of the best known faces in Hollywood. Using her celebrity and her sheer will to do something for the world, Angelina has gained popularity through persistent social activism around the world. In 2001, Angelina Jolie was named the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. Her journey began in Sierra Leonne, a country ravaged by civil war, and she raised awareness through camps about the inhuman treatment of refugees. She has visited over 20 countries in the world to highlight the plight of the millions of poor and to try to bring help to these people. After she visited Afghanistan in 2008, she highlighted the need for reintegrating returnees and urged for humanitarian aid to the nation. She has also partnered with Global Health Committee to start the Maddox Chivan Children’s Center to bring relief to children in Cambodia infected with HIV. International Campaign to Ban Landmines was another organisation with which she has worked.
LEONARDO DICAPRIO:
The 11th Hour- A feature documentary produced by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation was started by DiCaprio in the year 1998 in order to further the cause of environmental protection by focussing on global warming, preservation of biodiversity and exploring renewable sources of energy production. He also supported World Wide Fund’s Save Tiger Now by donating $1million. Since childhood he has been moved by the degradation of our environment, depletion of natural resources, etc and his popularity now has lead to a wider outreach to audiences regarding the environmental concerns he is raising. In 2001, his Foundation was honoured with the Martin Litton Environmental Warrior Award. The Foundation produced two short films and also the feature documentary film The 11th Hour.
John Lennon said, “They say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” There are so many other public figures who share this dream of making the world a better place. Sean Penn, for example, has founded the J/P Haitian Relief Organisation to provide housing and medical care for disaster-wrecked Haitians, and Elton John who founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation to help those living with HIV/AIDS across the world. Alicia Keys too has cofounded Keep a Child Alive support AIDS orphans in Africa and provide medication to AIDS patients.
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Views of a Few Global Change Agents
Sir David Attenborough
"Thequestion is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may neverbe able to see an elephant except in a picture book? And if the answeris no, then
people worldwide have got to say: 'Yes, elephants are aglory and a splendour and a wonder and we should not be responsible fortheir disappearance. And we are
prepared to do something about it'."
He emphasises further the need to take action for wildlife: "The fate of the creatures which share our planet lies entirely at the handof mankind - it is
within our power to protect them or watch them become.
"We'll only get people to care for the environment if they know something about it" Sir David says, "Youcan only get really unpopular decisions through if
the electorate isconvinced of the value of the environment. That's what natural history programs should be for." In the programme
"Life in the Undergrowth" David Attenborough takes adirect line in warning of the dangers of depleting the earth's biodiversity, insisting that without insects
humans would not last long. "If the invertebrates were to disappear, the land's ecosystems would collapse. Wherever we go on land, these small creatures
are Sir David highlights his support of preserving ecosystems rather than focusing purely on species, "The only way to save a rhinoceros is to save the
environment itlives in as there's a mutual dependency between it and millions ofother species of both animals and plants. And it is that range
ofbiodiversity that we must care for - the whole thing - rather than just1 or 2 stars".
Sir David says: "Inhuman nature there is good and evil, and often it is within man'scapacity to destroy the very things we value most. We are at risk
of destroying the very bedrock on which our existence was built.
Princess Diana
HIV does not make people dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands and
give them a hug: Heaven knows they need it.
Everyone of us needs to show how much we care for each other and, in the process, care for ourselves.
Helping people in need is a good and essential part of my life, a kind of destiny.
If there's one thing that I, Steve Irwin, would wanna beremembered for, [I want to] be remembered for passion and enthusiasm.Conservation is my job, my
life, my whole persona.
Steve Irwin
There are many who still do not believe that global warming is aproblem at all. And it's no wonder: because they are the targets of amassive and
well-organized campaign of disinformation lavishly fundedby polluters who are determined to prevent any action to reduce thegreenhouse gas emissions that
cause global warming out of a fear thattheir profits might be affected if they had to stop dumping so muchpollution into the atmosphere.
Al Gore
Climate change is such a huge issue that it requires strong, concerted, consistent and enduring action by governments.
Peter Garrett
In securing the future of the planet, we secure happiness forourselves. One of the aims of the Greens is to turn around the tide ofpessimism amongst the
young people of the world.
Bob Brown
"We areunlimited beings. We have no ceiling. The capabilities and the talentsand the gifts and the power that is within every single individual that is on this planet, is unlimited"- Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith
"A great attitude doesmuch more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magicallyconnect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that
weresomehow absent before the change"- Earl Nightingale
"You can have, do, and be anything you want"- Dr Joe Vitale
"Here is my secret. It is verysimple. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What isessential is invisible to the eye." - Antoine de Saint Exupéry
"Whatever the mind … can conceive it can achieve"- W. Clement Stone
GAHNDI
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless,whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name oftotalitarianism
or the holy name of liberty and democracy?
It may be long before the law oflove will be recognised in international affairs. The machineries ofgovernment stand between and hide the hearts of one
people from those of another.
As soon as we lose the moral basis,we cease to be religious. There is no
such thing as religionover-riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be
untruthful, cruel orincontinent and claim to have God on his side.
There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.
We must be the change we wish to see.
The danger posed by war to all of humanity -and to our planet - is at least matched by the climate crisis and global warming. I believe that t he world has
reached a critical stagein its efforts to exercise responsible environmental stewardship.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Global warming hasmelted the polar ice caps, raised the levels of the oceans and floodedthe earth's great cities. Despite its evident prosperity, New Jersey
isscarcely Utopia.
Godfried Danneels
While human-induced global warming isnot going to turn present-day Earth into present-day Mars, globalwarming is dire enough that our most distinguished
scientists recentlyconcluded that as many as 1 million species on the planet could beextinct by 2050 if affairs do not change.
Jay Inslee
The global warming scenario is pretty grim. I'm not sure I like the idea of polar bears under a palm tree.
Lenny Henry
I want to testify today about what I believe is a planetary emergency - a crisis that threatens the survival of our civilization and thehabitability of the Earth.
Al Gore
All across the world, in every kind of environment and region known to man,increasingly dangerous weather patterns and devastating storms are abruptly
putting an end to the long-running debate over whether or notclimate change is real. Not only is it real, it's here, and its effectsare giving rise to a
frighteningly new global phenomenon: the man-madenatural disaster.
Barack
Obama
Our generation has inherited an incredibly beautiful world from our parents and they from their parents. It is in our hands whether our children and
their children inherit the same world.
Richard Branson
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
Winston Churchill
Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act.
Truman Capote
Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside of you.
Wally 'Famous' Amos
Life has taught us that love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.
Danny Kaye
Where there is love there is life.
Indira Gandhi
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
Martin Luthor King, Jr.
Live dangerously and you live right.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The greatest happiness oflife it the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, orrather, loved in spite of ourselves.
Victor Hugo
I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
The purpose of life is a life of purpose.
Robert Byrne
What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare? -
No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
W. H. Davies
Here are some places where you can go to help.
ONE Campaign
Oprah’s Leadership Academy
Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
United Nations Volunteer
Teach For India
Greenpeace