Spread this just out track by Fatoumata Diawara and numerous Malian artists including Amadou & Mariam, Vieux Farka Touré , Oumou Sangare, Habib Koité, and Toumani Diabate who at this troubled time in their country are raising the voice of peace. Because of their deep tradition of music as a force for social unity and leadership, some of Mali’s greatest artists were instrumental in launching difrent:’s vision of a leading source for music and culture for social change. Now’s the time to lift high their song. See these videos with Amadou & Mariam and Vieux Farka Touré talking about music and social change, and Malian culture, with difrent: from this past year:

Iranian musician Arya Aramnejad was recently sentenced to three months in prison because of his song Ali Barkhiz. In a letter to the Iranian authorities, numerous artists are joining Freemuse, the leading international organisation which advocates freedom of expression for musicians and composers worldwide, to express deep concern about the continuous persecution of their colleague, asking for his immediate release and the dropping of all charges. The list includes visual artist Larissa Sansour, producer/artist Deeyah, South African singer-songwriter Roger Lucey, African rapper Outspoken, and rapper and performer Behrang Miri from Stockholm. Visit Freemuse’s website to find out more and learn how you can support this effort.

In a beautiful and moving response to the shootings at their own school last month, 21 young students from Sandy Hook Elementary and another school in Newtown, Connecticut came together to record “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” with the help of singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, and Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of The Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club.  I had a chance to catch up with Chris yesterday about how it all came together.

Downloads of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” are benefitting two organizations chosen by the community itself, Newtown Youth Academy and the United Way of Western Connecticut. Thanks to The Orchard group, who’ve put up a great page helping to publicize the effort, you can support the community by  picking up the mp3 on iTunes, eMusic, and Amazon.

Just one week ago, Chris and Tina got a call from long time activist and CBGB’s booking agent Louise Staley about the idea that she was working on with CBGB’s owner Tim Hayes – to put together a recording with kids from Sandy Hook School. Of course, Chris said they were “happy to help, any way they could.” Together with Newtown music school director Sabrina Post, they brought together a group of kids in their studio.With Sabrina directing, the 21 strong ad hoc chorus tracked to Ingrid’s pre-recorded ukelele and voice for better sound. The rest is history, still writing itself.

As Chris and I spoke, I was struck again by how much things have changed here in the last 15 years since the first school shooting took place at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky in 1997. “We moved out here to Fairfield, Connecticut, which is about 15 miles from Newtown, so we could be some place quieter and safer to raise our kids,” said Chris.

This smiles in this photo are a testament to one form of immediate impact this had on the participants.

Creating real change starts at community level and this recording is a great synergy between local and widespread reach for impact. I asked Chris if there are plans to deepen the deepen the impact beyond the recording with continued programming, curriculum or events with youth. Right now, the focus is getting it out as far and wide as possible, and getting airplay for the track, which was among top downloads on iTunes on Wednesday.

We at difrent: are strong believers in what producer Tim Hayes says is music’s “power to heal both the listener and the performers,” and hope to see and support efforts to take this conversation with youth into numerous communities. There are times when the most important and effective thing to do isn’t to point fingers, but to lift high an expression of beauty that reaffirms our connection to each other. We wonder what could happen if music that united us filled our radios and TV’s instead of endless reportage on things that divide us. So, we’re even more happy to see the coverage this song is getting, and hope to see it’s impact spread far and wide.

Photos courtesy of Chris Frantz

Peace, Stephan

D’ambrosio is filled with hope for the post-border generation, and maintains a fertive belief in the capacity of art and music to lead the charge for social change, in any context. He says, ‘there are only two responses to a dominant paradigm – submission, or the search and struggle for alternatives that turn obstacles into opportunities to move forward.’

Today’s global context is very different from the 1980′ or 90′s. In many ways, the idea that a more equitable society is necessary for the sustainability of the planet is now becoming the dominant philosophy, if not yet policy. And, we have more alternatives, more possibilities for reaching more people than ever before. This means that while we may be in an unprecedented crisis needing massive action for change, much of today’s creative response may not conceive of itself as counter-culture, but rather as total-culture, as inclusive as the borderless community it seeks to inspire.

We have an increasing global consciousness and the tools to create art that unites people, not only across nations, but across ideologies as well. We have the ability to use our art not only to advocate for the world we wish to see, but to distribute it through mechanisms that model a more equitable social and economic system.

As Joe Strummer once said to D’Ambrosio, “it’s not about failing or succeeding, but about trying.” The cat is already out of the bag – youth all over the world know another world is possible. All we have to do now is do what artists as agents for social change have ever done. As D’Ambrosio says, “we use the brush, the pen, the camera, the guitar as a vehicle to create a greater community.” Today, that greater community could be as big as our art is inclusive.

Here’s Shepard Fairy’s beautiful poster for the release of Let Fury Have The Hour. Visit the website to see the trailer and find out where you can see the film.

http://www.letfuryhavethehour.com/

Since difrent set up its vision anticipating this trend, everyone from The Roots to Lady Gaga, John Legend to Alicia Keys, as well as organizations from Music2Life, MusicUnites, Air Traffic Control, Occupy Musicians and countless other groups and organizations have been ratcheting things up. By celebrating all these individual initiatives, releases, and awareness campaigns, we can create a sustainable, self-funding platform and movement for the global generation, empowering everyone, and giving unprecedented thrust to our joint efforts for a better world. This is difrent:’s vision.

Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, are have now launched the Born This Way Foundation working in collaboration with Harvard’s research team on bullying. Numerous artists are already signed on for a big End Poverty concert in Central Park in September. Ben Harper, Tom Morello, Immortal Technique and others joined Occupiers in Union Square on May Day, joining hundreds of people with guitars and other instruments in a “Guitarmy,” More and more artists across the globe are taking a stand against bigotry and intolerance. Socially conscious artists like Brazilian rapper Emicida, K’naan, and Nigerian rap-tress Nneka are evidence of an increasing trend.

Our individual politics may differ slightly, but one thing we share is the belief that we need systemic change to address the mounting crises in the world, and music has the power to bridge divides to push major change along often long before the political realm is capable. As our top economists and and foreign policy experts from Amartya Sen and Jeff Sachs to Zbigniew Brzezinski are even saying, we need a more equitable world . Together, we can create this shift, whether its in the consciousness that equality and respect for equal rights are the alternative to bullying, or the reason why economic injustice and poverty should be erased from the earth.

Our belief here at difrent: is that by galvanizing these developments we can foster the development of a a new global culture of engagement that stimulates artists, youth, and social change organizations worldwide, so we can transform our world. Bringing the best beats and dance grooves together with innovative ideas from micro-finance to community based, multi-stakeholder development initiatives, a new world in music and culture for global unity is dawning.

Follow these links to see feature pages with the artists:

Warren Haynes: http://difrent.org/portfolio/whaynes-musicianchange-maker/

Vusi Mahlasela: http://difrent.org/portfolio/vusi-mahlasela/

Amadou and Mariam: http://difrent.org/portfolio/amadou-and-mariam/

difrent: video with Stephan Said, Pete Seeger: http://difrent.org/portfolio/difrent-video/

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