British Expatriate Network

With an ever growing army of celebrities getting involved in efforts to raise awareness of poverty in Africa, some have hit out against campaigns which they say are "high on celebrity octane" but low on political substance.

Critics say Bob Geldof's Live 8 concerts make up for a somewhat unsavoury gathering of "white millionaire pop stars saving Africa's helpless".

Consequently, factors that cause poverty, such as politics and trade, are lost in musical hype, they say, and this leads people to believe a continent's woes can be tackled by buying a wristband or a T-shirt.



http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4119096.stm


I have always been wary of celebs taking part in things like this, the reason for that being.....the ones that usually come out and take part in this kind of thing, usually for some reason, have an album coming out, or a movie just about to hit the cinema.

I noticed this recently with Sandra Bullock, when she game 1 million dollars to the Tsunami relief fund, it turns out that her movie 'miss congeniality 2', was just about to come out. Coincidence you may say?

Some celebrities mean well but I think they have minimal impact.
I attended 'Red Wedge' concerts back in the 80's and the vast majority of people where there for the music not the politics. I'm sure most of the Live 8 concert goers will talk more about the line-up than the cause.

Ideas come before actions. The idea of tackling poverty in Africa is gathering momentum. It's an idea who's time has come and the academics/campaigners/politicians who got it on the agenda are the real heroes. Celebrity involvement doesn't seem to influence elections or peoples politics or world events.

Bono is very dedicated to tackling poverty and has a very deep knowledge of the issues. He travels the world and engages politicians about the issues and suggests solutions. His acheivements are not because he is famous but becuase he is effective.