HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
http://www.suntimes.com/
Bono brings AIDS tour to city
December 5, 2002
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI
It was an emotional day Wednesday on the road in Chicago with Bono's Heart of America tour to raise consciousness about the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Four days into a seven-day tour of the Midwest, Bono, actress Ashley Judd and comedian Chris Tucker, who joined the tour late Tuesday night, showed signs that the stories they have been telling time and again about suffering and death in Africa have worn their emotions raw.
1 p.m., Apostolic Faith Church - 38th and Indiana:
The tour pulls up to this South Side church to meet with members of a Christian humanitarian group and congregants to give the same kind of talk about the crisis in Africa and what Americans can do to intervene that Bono has been giving at truck stops, high schools, churches and diners from Nebraska to Illinois.
During the private meeting in the church sanctuary (the three celebrities briefed the media outside before ducking out of the cold), Judd began to weep, saying all the stories, the statistics and the frustration of knowing that 6,500 Africans die each day from AIDS had become too much for her.
Judd has been traveling with Bono since Nebraska in a cherry red tour bus accompanied by her husband, Scottish race car driver Dario Franchetti, and their two poodles. She soon excused herself and retreated to the bus in tears.
A few minutes later, Tucker, who was relating stories from his four trips to Africa this year--including one with Bono and U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill in May--also became teary as he remembered one village with so many people suffering from AIDS, where there was just one well and the water was not clean.
"In every good work the Holy Spirit is there," Tucker said. "It will do a lot for us to shine a light on the devastation."
3 p.m., Chicago Sun-Times editorial board meeting:
Bono stepped into the board room raving about the reception the tour had received in the Midwest.
"What I expected from the Midwest was a kind of no nonsense, we-can-sort-out-this-problem-we don't-care-how-hard-it-is. . . . What I wasn't expecting was for people to get angry. People are getting really upset," he said. "There is a decency that lives here. There is a moral compass here that sets the course for the rest of the country."
About a half hour into the discussion, during a heated exchange with the Sun-Times editorial board about why Americans should be responsible for problems in Africa when there is an AIDS problem, particularly in the African-American community, at home, red began to creep up the back of the Irishman's neck and ears.
"There is unimaginable wealth in the United States," he said, his voice rising. "Don't give me that 'poor man' for the United States, please! I hate the idea that somehow the masses are just consumed with self-interest and don't give a sh--. . . . I don't care how you do it. It has to be done. And if you don't, you will reap an ill will."
Bono compared the United States stepping forward to help Africa now with President John Kennedy's space program 40 years ago. "When JFK said he wanted to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, polls would not have told him to do that. This was not high on the list of American priorities. But he led, we followed."
"We're not looking for incremental moves, we're not looking for 'Here's a bit more money.' You know why? The president won't get applause. No one will notice," he said. "We're talking about stepping right out in front. Like a moon shot. Flag in the sand. Our time--I promise, I am convinced--will be remembered by three things and how we let an entire continent burst into flames and stood around with watering cans."
7:30 p.m., Edman Chapel at Wheaton College:
The applause from the standing room only crowd at Wheaton's chapel was deafening as Bono and company took the stage for a two-hour program about AIDS in Africa.
"I am blown away by your joy," Judd said, her voice cracking with emotion.
Bono took a lighthearted tone with the rambunctious audience at the evangelical Christian school. "So this is Wheaton College," he said, looking around. "It gave the world Billy Graham and Wes Craven. Get them frightened and then you know where to send them."
Bono also quoted British author C.S. Lewis, whose papers are kept in a special collection at the college.
"All that is not eternal, is eternally out of touch," he said. "AIDS in Africa is going to divide us tonight. But Jesus said, 'I came to bring a sword.' "
The Heart of America tour will leave Chicago today, headed for Indianapolis and Cincinnati.
Bono brings AIDS tour to city
December 5, 2002
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI
It was an emotional day Wednesday on the road in Chicago with Bono's Heart of America tour to raise consciousness about the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Four days into a seven-day tour of the Midwest, Bono, actress Ashley Judd and comedian Chris Tucker, who joined the tour late Tuesday night, showed signs that the stories they have been telling time and again about suffering and death in Africa have worn their emotions raw.
1 p.m., Apostolic Faith Church - 38th and Indiana:
The tour pulls up to this South Side church to meet with members of a Christian humanitarian group and congregants to give the same kind of talk about the crisis in Africa and what Americans can do to intervene that Bono has been giving at truck stops, high schools, churches and diners from Nebraska to Illinois.
During the private meeting in the church sanctuary (the three celebrities briefed the media outside before ducking out of the cold), Judd began to weep, saying all the stories, the statistics and the frustration of knowing that 6,500 Africans die each day from AIDS had become too much for her.
Judd has been traveling with Bono since Nebraska in a cherry red tour bus accompanied by her husband, Scottish race car driver Dario Franchetti, and their two poodles. She soon excused herself and retreated to the bus in tears.
A few minutes later, Tucker, who was relating stories from his four trips to Africa this year--including one with Bono and U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill in May--also became teary as he remembered one village with so many people suffering from AIDS, where there was just one well and the water was not clean.
"In every good work the Holy Spirit is there," Tucker said. "It will do a lot for us to shine a light on the devastation."
3 p.m., Chicago Sun-Times editorial board meeting:
Bono stepped into the board room raving about the reception the tour had received in the Midwest.
"What I expected from the Midwest was a kind of no nonsense, we-can-sort-out-this-problem-we don't-care-how-hard-it-is. . . . What I wasn't expecting was for people to get angry. People are getting really upset," he said. "There is a decency that lives here. There is a moral compass here that sets the course for the rest of the country."
About a half hour into the discussion, during a heated exchange with the Sun-Times editorial board about why Americans should be responsible for problems in Africa when there is an AIDS problem, particularly in the African-American community, at home, red began to creep up the back of the Irishman's neck and ears.
"There is unimaginable wealth in the United States," he said, his voice rising. "Don't give me that 'poor man' for the United States, please! I hate the idea that somehow the masses are just consumed with self-interest and don't give a sh--. . . . I don't care how you do it. It has to be done. And if you don't, you will reap an ill will."
Bono compared the United States stepping forward to help Africa now with President John Kennedy's space program 40 years ago. "When JFK said he wanted to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, polls would not have told him to do that. This was not high on the list of American priorities. But he led, we followed."
"We're not looking for incremental moves, we're not looking for 'Here's a bit more money.' You know why? The president won't get applause. No one will notice," he said. "We're talking about stepping right out in front. Like a moon shot. Flag in the sand. Our time--I promise, I am convinced--will be remembered by three things and how we let an entire continent burst into flames and stood around with watering cans."
7:30 p.m., Edman Chapel at Wheaton College:
The applause from the standing room only crowd at Wheaton's chapel was deafening as Bono and company took the stage for a two-hour program about AIDS in Africa.
"I am blown away by your joy," Judd said, her voice cracking with emotion.
Bono took a lighthearted tone with the rambunctious audience at the evangelical Christian school. "So this is Wheaton College," he said, looking around. "It gave the world Billy Graham and Wes Craven. Get them frightened and then you know where to send them."
Bono also quoted British author C.S. Lewis, whose papers are kept in a special collection at the college.
"All that is not eternal, is eternally out of touch," he said. "AIDS in Africa is going to divide us tonight. But Jesus said, 'I came to bring a sword.' "
The Heart of America tour will leave Chicago today, headed for Indianapolis and Cincinnati.
