#SavingOurOwnLives

By Eric Stradford and Stephanie A. Walker Stradford

GENIUS AT WORK

A perspective on the final chorus of #WeAreTheWorld from Quincy Jones' notes. 
 "Love is all we need."

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AMWS July 16, 2018 – “There comes a time when we heed a certain call, when the world must come together as one.”  Now is that time!

#SavingOurOwnLives, an urgent cause for action, sparked an unprecedented demonstration to address a credible threat to a nation’s #EconomicSecurity. 

#WeAreTheWorld demonstrated endless possibilities for people who will stand together as one.  It’s been more than three decades since artists Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie etched this cause into a global call for action. 

A threat to the world’s most vulnerable citizens intensifies with each generation of wealthy folks who simply do not pay attention.  

BREAKING NEWS: Donald J. Trump is openly colluding with his Russian "competitor," despite months of denial by political conspirators.  The alleged action follows the indictment of 12 Russian officers for unlawful activity during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections. Though not necessarily a crime, punishable under U.S. law, collusion is a secret understanding between two or more persons to gain something illegally, to defraud another of his or her rights, or to appear as adversaries though in agreement.

Trump is hardly the first to learn that past acts, words and deeds matter.  "Tear down this wall!" is a line from a speech made by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin on June 12, 1987, calling for the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to open up the barrier which had divided West and East Berlin since 1961. 

 

Reagan was reportedly raised in a poor family in small towns of northern Illinois. He graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and worked as a sports announcer on several regional radio stations.  Hollywood acting and trade union attacking perhaps links the mid 1980’s to today’s news on foreign influence in American rights and responsibilities.

No international summit, multi or unilateral trade agreement, broken treaty or meet and greet will make a difference without facing reality.  “The poor can stop being poor if the rich are willing to become even richer at a slower rate.”  The assistant director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Hyman Bookbinder, declared that the long-range costs of adequately implementing programs to fight poverty, ignorance and slums will reach one trillion dollars in the future.

“The future is here,” said Stephanie A. Walker Stradford, CEO for Youth Achievers USA Institute.  We know what to do, but will we? Stradford is calling on fellow organization, civil rights, business, faith, and political leaders in a #BelovedCommunity to #PayAttention. #SavingOurOwnLives underscores the urgency for #WeThePeople to act now to #StandOurGround against enormous threats to our children, families and communities.

Depending on one’s political perspective, Ronald Reagan’s supply-side economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics", advocated tax rate reductions to spur economic growth, economic deregulation, and reduction in government spending.  Sound familiar?  From a historically disadvantaged perspective, the outcome was “trickle-down” for the middle class and a dream deferred for the poor.

In his first term, Reagan reportedly survived an assassination attempt, spurred the War on Drugs, and fought public sector labor.  Meanwhile, remnant factions of a #BelovedCommunity drew on indigenous assets to encourage a national offensive against the effects of unfavorable Washington policies.

Walls came down after realizing the need to engage in #SavingOurOwnLives and defeating apartheid by proclaiming #WeAreTheWorld.  Hands Across America was a benefit event and publicity campaign staged on Sunday, May 25, 1986.  It is reported that approximately 6.5 million people held hands in a human chain for fifteen minutes along a path across the contiguous United States.  Several international cities joined the cause and many donated ten dollars to reserve their place in line.  The proceeds were donated to local charities to fight hunger, homelessness and those in poverty.

In 1985, the supergroup United Support of Artists (USA) for Africa, brought to life the proclamation #WeAreTheWorld.  The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie with arrangements by John Barnes. Quincy Jones produced it for the album. With sales in excess of 20 million copies, #WeAreTheWorld is one of the fewer than 30 all-time physical singles to have sold at least 10 million copies worldwide. 

On a relative small scale, #WeAreTheWorld demonstrates endless possibilities when people stand together as one.