HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
http://www.usatoday.com/
Bono explores poetry of America while promoting AIDS awareness
By Mark Memmott, USA TODAY
One of the world's biggest rock stars has taken his campaign to raise awareness about the AIDS epidemic in Africa to the American Midwest this week.
And Bono, singer for the Irish group U2, says the goodwill he has received in places such as Davenport, Iowa, and Lincoln, Neb., has inspired him to begin work on a song called American Prayer.
"Myself and Dave Stewart of the (rock band) Eurythmics have started on this tune," Bono, born Paul Hewson but known by that single name, said by telephone Tuesday as he rode from Davenport toward Iowa City. "It's kind of my paean to America, as a fan. ... It's about remembering what's great about this country."
He shared the lyrics they've written so far, which borrow a bit from the message written on the Statue of Liberty, with USA TODAY. The song, Bono said, is written by "a person who has rediscovered the poetry of the Declaration of Independence and the taut truth in the Constitution."
Known for writing lyrics that send political and spiritual messages ever since U2 first gained fame in the early 1980s, Bono in recent years has become a prominent activist and lobbyist on three issues: the AIDS crisis in Africa, which is home to 70% of the world's cases of AIDS and the HIV virus that causes the disease; the debt that he says unfairly burdens many Third World countries; and global trade rules he says favor rich nations over poor ones.
In Washington, Bono, 42, has worked on those issues with conservatives such as Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and liberals such as Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
This week, with actress Ashley Judd, he is rolling through Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. They are stopping at schools and town halls to press their case that the U.S. government and drug companies should do more to help Africa battle AIDS.
On Tuesday, Bono and Judd talked with truckers near Walcott, Iowa, to tell them that AIDS is rampant among truckers in Africa.
Then they spent part of the morning with a health class at Central High School in Davenport.
"The kids went into shock when they saw Bono walking in," Judd said. "Then we got their attention with statistics."
Most telling: Bono and Judd divided the 26 students, pulling a third to one side. "If this was a school in any city in southeastern Africa," Bono said. "A third would have been HIV-positive."
After stops in Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville, the tour will end this weekend in Nashville.
Bono explores poetry of America while promoting AIDS awareness
By Mark Memmott, USA TODAY
One of the world's biggest rock stars has taken his campaign to raise awareness about the AIDS epidemic in Africa to the American Midwest this week.
And Bono, singer for the Irish group U2, says the goodwill he has received in places such as Davenport, Iowa, and Lincoln, Neb., has inspired him to begin work on a song called American Prayer.
"Myself and Dave Stewart of the (rock band) Eurythmics have started on this tune," Bono, born Paul Hewson but known by that single name, said by telephone Tuesday as he rode from Davenport toward Iowa City. "It's kind of my paean to America, as a fan. ... It's about remembering what's great about this country."
He shared the lyrics they've written so far, which borrow a bit from the message written on the Statue of Liberty, with USA TODAY. The song, Bono said, is written by "a person who has rediscovered the poetry of the Declaration of Independence and the taut truth in the Constitution."
Known for writing lyrics that send political and spiritual messages ever since U2 first gained fame in the early 1980s, Bono in recent years has become a prominent activist and lobbyist on three issues: the AIDS crisis in Africa, which is home to 70% of the world's cases of AIDS and the HIV virus that causes the disease; the debt that he says unfairly burdens many Third World countries; and global trade rules he says favor rich nations over poor ones.
In Washington, Bono, 42, has worked on those issues with conservatives such as Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and liberals such as Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
This week, with actress Ashley Judd, he is rolling through Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. They are stopping at schools and town halls to press their case that the U.S. government and drug companies should do more to help Africa battle AIDS.
On Tuesday, Bono and Judd talked with truckers near Walcott, Iowa, to tell them that AIDS is rampant among truckers in Africa.
Then they spent part of the morning with a health class at Central High School in Davenport.
"The kids went into shock when they saw Bono walking in," Judd said. "Then we got their attention with statistics."
Most telling: Bono and Judd divided the 26 students, pulling a third to one side. "If this was a school in any city in southeastern Africa," Bono said. "A third would have been HIV-positive."
After stops in Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville, the tour will end this weekend in Nashville.
.
