I have always been a social activist and undoubtedly always will. So my main interests in life have to do with ideas and movements to make our world a better place for all. Africa has always been my main interest so I am attracted to organizations that are doing great things FOR AFRICA.(like UNICEF, Oxfam, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Medecin San Frontieres, World Vision, Mercy Corps, DATA, EDUN, RED and ONE)Besides Africa, I am an avid environmentalist. So I am attracted to those groups that are seriously trying their best to save our world's environment (NRDC, Environmental Defense, the Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace amongst others).Besides social activism, my other passion is music which I have already described.Gardening, walking and reading rounds out the sorts of activities that I take great pleasure in.
People I have never met and would love to meet: Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Stephen Lewis, the Dalai Lama, Bob Geldof and Sister Benedicta. (Ask Bono - he knows her, smile.)People that I have met that I would love to meet again - Rev. Desmond Tutu, Ali Hewson and my favorite person in the whole world - Bono.But the reasons WHY Bono is my favorite person in the whole world may not be the same as most people's reasons so I think I'll do a blog post soon to explain why he's at the top of my list.
I really like all types of music from Johnny Cash and Hank Williams to Billie Holiday and Tony Bennett.But my favorite music that I enjoy listening to is African music and all its derivatives.Whether its the chimeranga music of Zimbabwe, the soukous music of the Congo or the kora music of Mali, I have grown up listening to African music.Reggae and Rasta are also of premier importance in my life.It was the music of Bob Marley which woke me up out of my sleepless slumber in the 1970's and helped to bring me to my love of Africa.And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the essential role that John Lennon (and the Beatles), Joe Strummer (and the Clash) and of course, U2, have had in my musical repetoire.I started following U2 back in 1981 and have never given up my love for their music and my respect for their integrity as individuals and as a group.That love and respect for U2 grows daily and not a day goes by that I don't sing or listen to one of their songs.
HAND CRAFTED BAGS FROM MALI
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While I don't have alot of time to read books, there are a few books which have had a tremendous effect on me: the Bible (especially the Psalms of King David), the writings of Kahlil Gibran and Jalal-e-Din Rumi, the writings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi and Mother Teresa. I also have learned quite a lot from the writings of the Dalai Lama, Rev. Desmond Tutu,Frantz Fanon, Jeffrey Sachs, Elie Wiesel,Dag Hammarskjold and Bono (I've always considered his lyrics to be teaching stories - parables - for the modern world). As for novels, my favorites include To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies and the Grapes of Wrath. I love the poetry of Langston Hughes, William Butler Yeats, Charles Bukowski (as brutally honest as it is) and Emily Dickinson. ~ Yes, I am quite an eclectic person. ~
Although I am generally NOT a person who is too "star-struck", there are a few living people who I TRULY ADMIRE: Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, Rev. Desmond Tutu,His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, Bono, Agnes Nyamayarwo, Bob Geldof, Stephen Lewis, Elie Wiesel and Prof. Jeffrey Sachs. Amongst the people who I truly admire that have passed from the earth: Coretta Scott King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Mohandas Ghandi and so many more indivduals who have stood up for peace and social justice in our world. I do not admire people for their fame or fortune but for what they have done in their lives to make our world a better place.