When the line-up for last night’s concert at Madison Square Garden for Sandy relief was announced, it was not surprising to see the usual crowd-pleasing suspects among the performers: Billy Joel, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi.
What was surprising was that among the initial list of performers was one woman’s name: Alicia Keys. I expected to see more as additional musicians were added to the schedule.
But none was. When the concert took place last night, the stage was occupied almost exclusively by white male singers and instrumentalists, all of whom donated their time to the Robin Hood Foundation, all of whom deserve our thanks. This is not about them, not about the people whose presence raised, according to various reports, $30 million in ticket sales alone. It’s not about the people who were there.
It’s about the people who weren’t.
Continue reading at Forbes.com…
I’m commenting over here because I have a really hard time with the Forbes site, it makes my computer do crazy things. It seems like some of the readers there don’t understand an opinion piece and I am stunned by the level of personal attacks. I thought Forbes readers might be more thoughtful than that sort of behavior indicates.
I respect your point of view, although I don’t necessarily agree with it. I can’t think of any female or minority performer that would have added anything to my enjoyment of the program, except maybe Pat Benatar (I am a child of rock and roll at heart LOL). Oh and like one of the Forbes posters mentioned, Southside Johnny would have been a great addition (personal preference here). This was, for the most part, a “stand up and shout” concert, and I can’t think of too many other performers that would have contributed to that effect.
Diversity is a great thing but it needs to contribute to the overall goal and not just exist for its own sake.
Keep your chin up, those of us who actually know you are still out here supporting your writings!
Thanks, Linda. Your comment did show up over there, but I appreciate your words here. I knew that not everyone would agree with me, and I’ve enjoyed talking with people with other points of view — at least, the ones who weren’t calling me names.
I’d have liked to see more variety for two reasons: it would have better represented New York and those affected by the storm, and it might have attracted more people to watching the program, and perhaps donating.
I also do just find it bizarre that in 2012, an entire seven-hour program could be staged with only men.
It kept appearing and disappearing so I wasn’t sure it actually posted.
Bizarre maybe, but I am not totally surprised by it either….