Monday, October 01, 2007
Bono and DATA Honored with Liberty Medal
We had a blast at the ceremony honoring humanitarian and rock star Bono at the National Constitution Center on Thursday, September 27, 2007. He and his international organization DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) visited Philadelphia to collect the Liberty Medal. As volunteers, Lynn and I attended the 2007 Liberty Medal Ceremony. Our assignment was the Help Desk. We helped anyone who had issues with their tickets. They had to have a ticket to get into the ceremony.
Accepting the medal from National Constitution Center chairman George H.W. Bush, Bono drew a chuckle from the crowd of 2,500 on the center's white-chair-specked lawn when he reminded the former president that Bush wouldn't take his calls in 1992. Back then, the Irish rock musician-turned-statesman-in-the-rough wanted to discuss global awareness about AIDS, Third World debt, hunger and pestilence in Africa.
On the other hand, Bush's son, the current president, has been more receptive - for the better or worse. Bono teased. He had me over to lunch.... Now, I'm not what you'd call house-trained. I'm not even White House-trained." Bono said, "I ask for things before we even sit down for tea, like billions of dollars to fight AIDS."
Bono, U2 lead singer and activist, and DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), the advocacy organization he co-founded to combat poverty and disease in Africa, were presented with the National Constitution Center's 2007 Liberty Medal for their groundbreaking work in raising awareness about and spurring a global response to the crisis of AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa. In his acceptance speech, Bono said, "Let me set my foot here, and say to you tonight this is my country. Let me say, with humility and pride in my own country, that anyone who has a stake in liberty has a stake in the United States of America. For all that you've been through - good and bad - this is my country, too.""America has so many great answers to offer," he added. "We can't fix all the world's problems, but the ones we can, we must." Bono and DATA accepted the medal and its accompanying $100,000 prize in a public ceremony at the National Constitution Center in Historic Philadelphia. All of the prize money will be donated to DATA.Please watch Bono's great acceptance speech at:
Accepting the medal from National Constitution Center chairman George H.W. Bush, Bono drew a chuckle from the crowd of 2,500 on the center's white-chair-specked lawn when he reminded the former president that Bush wouldn't take his calls in 1992. Back then, the Irish rock musician-turned-statesman-in-the-rough wanted to discuss global awareness about AIDS, Third World debt, hunger and pestilence in Africa.
On the other hand, Bush's son, the current president, has been more receptive - for the better or worse. Bono teased. He had me over to lunch.... Now, I'm not what you'd call house-trained. I'm not even White House-trained." Bono said, "I ask for things before we even sit down for tea, like billions of dollars to fight AIDS."
Bono, U2 lead singer and activist, and DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), the advocacy organization he co-founded to combat poverty and disease in Africa, were presented with the National Constitution Center's 2007 Liberty Medal for their groundbreaking work in raising awareness about and spurring a global response to the crisis of AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa. In his acceptance speech, Bono said, "Let me set my foot here, and say to you tonight this is my country. Let me say, with humility and pride in my own country, that anyone who has a stake in liberty has a stake in the United States of America. For all that you've been through - good and bad - this is my country, too.""America has so many great answers to offer," he added. "We can't fix all the world's problems, but the ones we can, we must." Bono and DATA accepted the medal and its accompanying $100,000 prize in a public ceremony at the National Constitution Center in Historic Philadelphia. All of the prize money will be donated to DATA.Please watch Bono's great acceptance speech at:
Labels: Bono, Liberty Medal, National Constitution Center
