When Bono met Oprah
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Date: September, 2002
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| Photo:
u2.com |
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'Bill
Gates is somebody we're involved with, and he's got the deepest pockets of anyone.
But his pockets aren't deep enough to fix this.' |
She
is the most popular TV presenter in the world - he is the biggest rock star. And
they both believe that the world has to do more to address the crisis of poverty
in Africa. In September Oprah invited U2's Bono onto her show to
talk to her 20million viewers about his recent visit to Africa - and his new campaigning
organisation DATA (It stands for Debt, AIDS, Trade for Africa) Watch
a clip of the interview here
In the programme, Bono urges Oprah's predominantly female audience to take
action in the fight against AIDS in Africa. When asked why American women should
care, Bono said 'Because any mother knows that the pain of losing a child is the
same in Africa as it is in America.' Bono's appearance was aimed at rallying
support for an international effort to alleviate paralyzing debt in Africa and
the resulting AIDS epidemic which threatens to kill a generation of Africans.
'If you want to talk to the American people, you come to Oprah,' Bono told the
audience. 'This is an emergency.' More on DATA here
Here are some choice quotes from the video clip: 'Bill Gates is
somebody we're involved with, and he's got the deepest pockets of anyone. But
his pockets aren't deep enough to fix this. This is a political problem. The good
news is that if it's a political problem, it belongs to the people.'
'Oprah: How has this passion fueled your work on stage? Bono: I was very
humbled to find out that the less time I spent in the studio, the better the music
seemed to get! The band is really supportive of my work. They just wish the people
I was hanging out with weren't so un-hip!' 'The people who drove it home
[in England], as much as the students and activists were a part of it, were mothers.
That has been really powerful [the support from] mothers and women's groups. They're
not scared of me, but when women start getting organized, they [politicians] get
scared.' Debt
Relief Works
Read
Bono's speech addressing the Closing Ceremony of the African Development Bank
meetings earlier this year. |