Spring

2013
A Review of the
Legitimacy of
Celebrities as Moral
Entrepreneurs
MAREN PASLICK
HUMAN SYSTEMS
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George Clooneys sustained focus on Sudan with satellite surveillance technology to
monitor troop movements; Angelina Jolie as a special envoy of the United Nations for
refugee issues; Leonardo DiCaprios films to educate the public about environmental
issues; Madonnas international adoptions. Seemingly every day a new Hollywood actor
or famous musician is staking his or her claim on a hot button issue or region evidently in
desperate need of salvation. This form of public engagement by such figures brings to the
forefront a number of issues about the role of celebrities in global governance. Although
the performance of this self-selected cast of artists remains highly controversial, it must
be recognized that this activity is one more indicator that the traditional script of
international relations is changing. As will be explored in this paper, when celebrities
such as Manu Chao, Bono, and Sean Penn get involved, the world takes notice. It is up to
society to determine whether or not this is a step in the right direction.

According to rock star turned activist Manu Chao, everyone must do their part in
contributing to the transformation of society from the ground up. A global revolution can
only be achieved with full participation and exertion at the local level. Manus upbringing
had an extensive influence on his music and his activist attitude. Born in France to
Spanish parents who had fled the oppressive dictatorship of Francisco Franco, Manu was
drawn to music at an early age as a form of expression (Juris 1). It would not take long
for Manu to recognize music as not only a source of entertainment, but also as a force
that helps shape movement identities.

Manu Chao is an internationally renowned solo artist, but his music career first ignited
with his membership in a punk rock ensemble formed in Paris in the late 1980s called
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Mano Negra (Black Hand). A hodgepodge of immigrants, the band fused musical genres,
and featured various languages in their songs from Spanish, French, and English, to
sounds of the street. From its onset, the multicultural message of Mano Negra resonated
with many people from different communities. Socially conscious and politically
engaged musicians such as the band members of the eclectic group Mano Negra view
their art as a form of journalismemploying a microphone to deliver the news of what is
happening in the world around us, and a stage as their platform to protest injustice and
inequality.

Mano Negra took its social and political messages on tour to Latin America and Mexico
in the early 1990s. At the peak of violence in war-torn Colombia, Chao led the band on a
bold adventure by train across the country to perform free performances for isolated
communities of peasants and guerillas (Culshaw). This wildly unconventional tour
inspired the album Casa Babylon, which features songs such as Seor Matanza,
(Mr. Slaughter), exposing how mafias threaten governments and stability in Latin
American societies, with chilling lyrics such as Esa y esa propriedad del Seor Matanza.
Esa joya, esa mina, y esa finca y ese mar. Ese paramilitar, son propriedad del Seor
Matanza. (This city is the property of Mr. Slaughter. That jewel, the mine and the farm
and the sea, the paramilitary are owned by Mr. Slaughter) (Gonzalez).The opening track
of the album, entitled Viva Zapata, (Live Zapata) begins with a tribute to Mexican
guerilla insurgent leader Subcomandante Marcos and his internet-and-fax-issued
Declaration of War against Mexican political lies, in which collective chants of El
pueblo unido, jams ser vencido (The people united, will never be defeated) soar
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above a psychedelic beat (Gonzalez). While Casa Babylon was the final release of
Mano Negra, it preceded the launch of Manu Chaos solo career.

As a solo artist, Manu Chao continues to enjoy tremendous popularity, selling millions of
records and playing to audiences in excess of 100,000 across the globe. Whether making
an album with patients at Argentinas largest psychiatric hospital, performing for anti-
globalization protesters at the Genoa G8 summit in the summer of 2001, demanding self-
determination for the Sahrawi refugees in Algeria, or advocating for immigrant rights in
Arizona, Manu Chao demonstrates his deep affection for the world that surrounds him, as
well as his conviction that solutions exist locally.

Popular music has been a significant instrument of social and political expression owing
in part to the development of mass media technologies. The growth of the internet has
proved to be an ideal medium to connect global issues and local awareness. Manu Chao
is undoubtedly a beneficiary of digital technologies (Juris 2). Through the use of modern
networking tools and logics of contemporary global capitalism, the anti-corporate
globalization activist Manu Chao is identified as reflecting a paradox (Juris 2). However,
rather than viewing this as a criticism, many of Manus fans laud his ability to harness
modern communications such as activist media projects and websites to diffuse
alternative information and enhance anti-globalization movements at the grassroots level.
In fact, Manu Chao served as inspiration for the creation of Radiochango, one of the
most influential websites for advocating music and revolution (Gonzalez).
Radiochango connects leaders of social movements to music such as Manus that
promotes social conscience.
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On one side of the colorful celebrity activist spectrum stands Manu Chao, who reportedly
declines most requests for media interviews, and is instead more inclined to perform
unscheduled gigs at bars in his adopted city of Barcelona. Even Peter Culshaw, who
authored a biography of the artist, encountered difficulties in securing meetings with the
elusive performer. Culshaw attributes this strict aversion to being dubbed the leader of
the anti-corporate globalization movement to Manus deep-seated mistrust of people in
power, and their penchant for corruption (Culshaw). The movement does not necessitate
a centralized and glorified figure, but rather horizontal networks with as many people
engaged on the ground as possible.

Lead vocalist Bono of the Dublin-based rock band U2 unabashedly occupies another side
of the spectrum. Unlike Manu, Bono actively seeks out media to call attention to himself
as an ambassador of the needs of his region of choice, Africa. While Bono has no
shortage of critics as will be examined, it is critical to point out that his activism goes
beyond simply attending a fund-raiser to boost contributions to benefit people from
whom he is wholly detached. His performance at the concert Live Aid in 1985
encouraged Bono to travel to famine-stricken Ethiopia. The several weeks he spent there
working with a hunger relief project unnerved the singer, and incited his fight to eradicate
poverty and disease, particularly in Africa.

Bono helped co-found the three million member strong advocacy and campaign
organization ONE (CBS). Principle among the duties of this organization is the relentless
application of pressure on political leaders worldwide to expand and enhance policies
toward the most vulnerable of society. Improved access to antiretroviral medications,
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education and counseling services are all outgrowths of this campaign. In 2006, Bono and
Bobby Shriver launched a brand called Red to engage the private sector in combating
AIDS in Africa. Red partners, including American Express and Gap, direct a portion of
their proceeds from Red-branded products to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria (CBS). In just six years, Red has contributed more than $200
million to HIV/AIDS programs in the effort to end mother-to-child transmission of HIV
(CBS).

The pop stars efforts have not gone unnoticed. Granted knighthood in 2007 and dubbed
a "Man of Peace" in 2008, Bono is celebrated for his use of the media to educate the
wider world about the plight of the poor in less developed countries. Yet, as previously
alluded to earlier, not everyone is a fan of Bonos philanthropic pursuits. Dambisa Moyo,
a young economist born and raised in Zambia, and author of the book Dead Aid: Why
Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa, issues a scathing
denouncement of foreign aid to Africa.

Her criticisms of aid and development carry a personal edge to them, as she has often
wondered why other emerging regions have seemingly catapulted from the third world to
economic prosperity, while the majority of the African continent has been left to decay in
a perpetual cycle of disease, poverty, corruption, and dependency on aid. Moyo takes
major issue with the way in which pop culture stars have assumed center stage in the
conversations on aid and development in recent years, while the voices of Africans with
experience and expertise are marginalized. In her view, the notion common in Western
culture that the rich should help the poor financially has transformed into a glamorous
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trend over the past two decades. Colored rubber bracelets raise money and solidarity for
the cause, with celebrity figures fervently leading the chorus.

Bono is one of Moyos main celebrity targets. It is sickly laughable to Moyo that
entertainers such as Bono can seek an audience with the likes of former President George
W. Bush to address Africas needs by calling for increased aid, while the continents
elected officials are patronizingly instructed to accept the barrage of new aid with a
gracious smile (Moyo 27). It seems according to Moyo, that there is a fine line between
raising public consciousness, and creating a circus that makes people feel noble and does
more harm than good for the people of Africa. Just as development was essentially an
elitist project with the nation-states of the North assuming responsibility for the
development of the nation-states of the South in the aftermath of World War II, so too do
actors and musicians of the North today believe they know best how the South is to
develop.

While Moyos attack on a respected figure honored with titles such as Person of the Year
for his activism may appear shockingly excessive, she would strongly disagree. Aid has
promoted unproductive consumption, disadvantaged domestic workers, and been seized
by crooked politicians, thus poisoning the very people it was intended to benefit.

Pop stars who want to experience the zest of committing altruism by becoming politically
engaged, like Bono and Bob Geldof, can arguably become compromised by their
consorting with politicians. But whether Manu is singing about the plight of displaced
persons on Clandestino, or how money and dishonesty in politics equate to violence on
his hypnotic new album La Radiolina, his hope in humanity is palpable.
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In his eyewitness account of what transpired in the wake of the earthquake that leveled
Port-au-Prince and much of southern Haiti, journalist Jonathan Katz provides insider
insight into how the Haitian state can remain so fragile three years and millions of dollars
in aid later. Dambisa Moyo would undoubtedly shudder at Katzs description of how
most of the planning by aid groups was conducted inside the security perimeter at
Logbasedominated by English speakers and decision makers unfamiliar with the
Haitian landscape and people (Katz part two). Despite the alarming inefficiency and
bureaucratic nature of disaster response in post-earthquake Haiti, this is not a critique on
aid, but rather a critical evaluation of celebrity activist campaigns.

One name comes to mind when considering celebrity activism in this Caribbean island
nation; not the gay political activist Harvey Milk, but the man who won an Academy
Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Milk in a film. Sean Penn is an ambassador-at-
large for Haitis president and CEO of the aid group Jenkins-Penn (J/P) Haitian Relief
Organization, which started with a goal of supplying water filters and painkillers to
earthquake victims (Katz part two). He uses the post to raise awareness about the nation
still struggling to recover from the disaster. J/P Haitian Relief Organization is also
involved in other aid projects such as clearing rubble, repairing damaged homes and
running a community center and clinics.

More than a million Haitians were left homeless by the earthquake. This spring, Penns
aid organization announced it is receiving $8.75 million from the World Bank to help
move Haitians off of a golf course where many have been living since the January 2010
earthquake (Macatee). This means that Penn has executed his plan. Overlooking the
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thousands of settlers on the golf course of the Ptionville Club, Katz quoted Penn three
years ago as saying in regard to camps, What should be the plan is total relocation
(Katz part two). A statement from Penns PR firm declared that the grant will go toward
rent subsidies or new housing units, with a timetable of early 2014 (Macatee). This
represents a major victory in consideration of the multitude of obstacles to relocation
efforts that Katz outlines in his account. In fact, the Haitian government tried and failed
repeatedly to find relocation space as the affluent families who controlled most of the
land in and around the city continuously refused to donate it (Katz part two). It seems that
Penn has contributed directly to policy making in Haiti. His detailed knowledge of the
difference between tarps and tents, his understanding of camp life, and his consistent
presence on the ground in Haiti contributed to this triumph.

In light of these particular celebrity activist campaigns, it is difficult to wholeheartedly
condemn this form of public engagement by celebrities as opportunistic self-indulgence.
These examples of celebrity activism represent an inevitable force connected to the rapid
and extensive expansion of globalization with all its related elements of mass technology
in global communications. The global nature of the internet and social networking sites,
and the ability of people throughout much of the world to participate in them, promotes
the facilitation of Manu Chaos vision of thousands and thousands of neighborhood
revolutions.

This form of celebrity diplomacy also reflects the issue that presently affects the
credibility of international organizations, whether international financial institutions
(IFIs) or the G8. The fact that a Hollywood actor, in this case Sean Penn, can generate a
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more captivated audience in his delivery of the status of Haitian resettlement camps than
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon represents a challenge. While the pivotal role that
celebrities play in calling attention to these serious issues can truly be appreciated, one
can only wonder, perhaps even decry, how celebrity activists can take precedence over
experienced native policymakers in seeking an audience with presidents and prime
ministers.

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Works Cited
Bono Seeing Red Over AIDS. CBS Interactive Inc. 11 Feb 2009. <
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500202_162-1241892.html>.
Culshaw, Peter. World Beater. The Observer. 14 Jul 2007.
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/jul/15/worldmusic>.
Gonzalez, Pedro. Music and Political Activism: The case of Radiochango. 5 May 2011.
< http://mestizosounds.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/music-and-political-activism-
the-case-of-radiochango>.
Juris, Jeffrey S. Networking Futures: The Movements Against Corporate
Globalization. Duke University Press Books, 2008. Print.
Katz, Jonathan M. The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save
Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Print.
Macatee, Sarah. Sean Penns Haiti Relief Organization Receives $8.75 Million Grant.
Eonline. 13 Mar 2013. < http://www.eonline.com/news/397096/sean-penn-s-haiti-
relief-organization-receives-8-75-million-grant>.
Moyo, Dambisa. Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for
Africa. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2009.