Human Rights Now! was a worldwide tour of twenty benefit concerts on behalf of Amnesty International that took place over six weeks in 1988. Held not to raise funds but to increase awareness of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on its 40th anniversary and the work of Amnesty International, the shows featured Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman, and Youssou N'Dour, plus guest artists from each of the countries where concerts were held.
Human rights activists and former prisoners from around the world, led by Sonny Venkatrathnam from South Africa, participated in the tour. At each location, the artists and Amnesty leaders held a press conference to discuss human rights, and concert-goers were provided with copies of the Universal Declaration in their language and opportunities to sign the Declaration themselves and join the worldwide human rights movement. The tour featured concerts at large sports stadiums such as Camp Nou in Barcelona (90,000 people), Népstadion in Budapest (80,000), JFK Stadium in Philadelphia (78,000), Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires (75,000), and the National Sports Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe (75,000). Only Paris and Toronto got arena shows. The Paris concert was originally going to be held at a large racing track that could accommodate 72,000 people, but the promoters changed their minds and it was moved indoors. More than one million people attended concerts over a six-week period, volunteers distributed 1.2 million copies of the Declaration, and hundreds of thousands of concertgoers signed a petition urging governments to ratify international human rights treaties and defend advocates for human rights.
The tour was made possible in part by a grant from the Reebok Foundation. The twenty concerts were the second stage of what subsequently became known collectively as the Human Rights Concerts – a series of music events and tours staged by the U.S. section of Amnesty International between 1986 and 1998.
Background
The tour was originally conceived by the Executive Director of Amnesty International's U.S. section, Jack Healey, after a suggestion from former Executive Director David Hawk, with some limited input from producer Martin Lewis, who had first recruited rock musicians to perform for Amnesty years before for the Secret Policeman's Ball series of benefits.Gundersen, Edna, "Big show, big impact? Live Earth hopes so" USAToday.com, 4 July 2007"Benchmark benefits through the years" USAToday.com, 4 July 2007 Healey developed the concept with famed rock promoter Bill Graham, who had worked with Healey on Amnesty's shorter, United States-only tour in 1986, titled A Conspiracy of Hope, and who acted as tour director. Healey served as executive producer, leading the team of three producers: Mary Daly, Jessica Neuwirth, and James Radner, father of George Radner. The media strategies for the tour, based on concepts originated by Healey and Lewis,Henke, James, "Human Rights Now!: Official Book of the Amnesty International World Concert Tour", Bloomsbury Publishing, 1 December 1988 () were developed by Healey and Daly and executed by tour media director Magdeleno Rose-Avila and Charles Fulwood, Communications Director for Amnesty International USA.
Tour dates
+List of tour dates, showing date, city, country, venue, guest artists, attendance & revenue DateCityCountryVenueAttendanceRevenueOpening Act Europe 2 September, 1988 London England Wembley Stadium 4 September, 1988 Paris France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy Michel Jonasz 5 September, 1988 6 September, 1988 Budapest Hungary Népstadion Hobo Blues BandJános Bródy 8 September, 1988 Turin Italy Stadio Comunale Claudio Baglioni 10 September, 1988 Barcelona Spain Camp Nou El Último de la Fila North America 13 September, 1988 San José Costa Rica Estadio Nacional Guadalupe Urbina 15 September, 1988 Toronto Canada Maple Leaf Gardens k.d. lang 17 September, 1988 Montreal Olympic Stadium 58,679 / 60,199$1,807,956 k.d. langMichel RivardDaniel Lavoie 19 September, 1988 Philadelphia United States John F. Kennedy Stadium 75,892 / 75,892$2,621,220 Joan Baez 21 September, 1988 Los Angeles Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 56,547 / 64,000$1,973,790 Joan BaezBonoThe Edge 23 September, 1988 Oakland Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 58.500 / 58,500$1,462,500 Joan BaezRoy OrbisonAsia 27 September, 1988 Tokyo Japan Tokyo Dome Kodō 30 September, 1988 New Delhi India Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium L. ShankarZakir HussainEurope 3 October, 1988 Athens Greece Olympic Stadium George DalarasAfrica 7 October, 1988 Harare Zimbabwe National Sports Stadium Oliver MtukudziIlangaCde Chinx 9 October, 1988 Abidjan Ivory Coast Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny Ismaël IsaacJohnny CleggSouth America 12 October, 1988 São Paulo Brazil Parque Antártica Milton NascimentoPat Metheny 14 October, 1988 Mendoza Argentina Estadio Malvinas Argentinas Los PrisionerosMarkamaInti-Illimani 15 October, 1988 Buenos Aires Estadio Monumental León GiecoCharly García
References