One thing that has been clear from the very first night after the ground shook on that island in the Caribbean – music cannot be buried in the rubble.
… All thought his disaster-relief trip, [Dr. Steven] Landau heard Haitians “singing lovely songs, just beautiful songs, and clapping hands or being joyous,” he said last week. The Herald
…”There are a lot of problems, a lot of problems in Port-au-Prince right now, but I think they’ve held up better than the U.S. military had expected,” [Peter Kapiloff, Hope for the Children of Haiti Orphanage volunteer] said. “One thing I’ll never forget is all night long, the Haitians were singing hymns. It amazed me how positive they could be in the situation they were in,” he added later. The Daily Collegian
…A cluster of women began singing hymns; soon other women would join them; they would not relent for days. [Author Mischa Berlinski, Haiti resident] New York Review of Book
The Haitian soul is surely wrapped in melody, and the Haitian people use that music to express their pain and their joy; their prayers for mercy; their prayers for the dead. It is only appropriate that music is being created in support of the worldwide relief efforts. Today we invite you to click and listen to the voices being lifted up around the world to bring hope to the people of Haiti.
The most widely publicized song/video created to benefit Haitian relief debuted this past Friday during the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. As they did 25 years ago, Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie gathered together music royalty to record a new version of “We Are the World”. Mary J Blige, Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Hudson, Kanye West, and even the original performance of Michael Jackson were featured in the production. Donations support the We Are the World Foundation.
Simon Cowell also put together a star-studded remake – the R.E.M. classic “Everybody Hurts” featuring performers from both sides of the pond such as Rod Stewart, Mariah Carey, Robbie Williams, Michael Buble, and worldwide phenom Susan Boyle. The single will split all proceeds 50/50 between the Disasters Emergency Committee and The Sun newspaper’s “Helping Haiti’ appeal.
A group of Caribbean musicians and artists insist that “We Shall Rise Again” in this terrific video. Money raised will go to the Digicel Haiti Relief Fund.
It’s not just the professionals who are getting into the act, so to speak. The High School for Recording Arts – also known as Hip Hop High – created their own original video called “Together”. Just like the rest of the videos, you can download to donate and the money will go to Haitian relief efforts.
Finally, we leave you with a reminder of the power of one. In an earlier post we told you about Amy Carol Wolff and her decision to unite the voices of many choirs in a song she had written. On Valentines Day she released the resulting “Brighter Way” featuring choirs from the US and Uganda. Amy encourages everyone to donate here – proceeds going to Care via Citizen Effect, all on behalf of Haiti.
A human voice – singing alone or joined in a chorus – has power. It can calm jittery aftershock nerves and it can bring joy into the darkest of days. It can also bring real help. Support the music. Save the people.
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Tags: Brighter Way, Caribbean, donate, download to donate, Everybody Hurts, Haiti, Haiti Choir Project, High School for Recording Arts, music, together, We Are The World
Thank you so much for including us in this!! You guys are wonderful! Here’s the link to donate! http://citizeneffect.org/projects/brighterwaychoir_haitirelief/
Really, thank you!
Oh and just a quick correction. All of the money goes to CARE. Citizen Effect is just a conduit for donations! They help us create a personalized project page. But 100% of the money goes to CARE!
Thanks for the correction, Amy. I’ve made the change and added the proper link into the post. Please let us know any further developments. It’s a great project! Good luck!!