Amnesty International Mounts Small Places Tour

Think global, act global – get mobilized!

By Blurt Staff

Amnesty International will be feting the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this fall with the Small Places Tour. The call is currently out for musicians and bands “to raise their voices in song and action in hundreds of concerts held around the world in fall 2008,” according to Amnesty.

In addition to musical performances on the Small Places Tour, the hope is that musicians and fans will become engated in supporting Amnesty's “Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60” campaigns: stopping torture, demanding the closure of Guantanamo, ending the killing in Darfur, campaigning to stop violence against women, protesting China's actions in Tibet and working for the release of Aung San Sui Kyi in Burma.

In a statement released by the organization the details are outlined:

For nearly half a century, Amnesty International has been fighting the good fight on behalf of the underdog and the oppressed. And from Pete Townsend's "Won't Get Fooled Again" at the first Amnesty International Secret Policeman's Ball gala in 1979 to Green Day's stirring rendition of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" for Amnesty's 2007 Darfur campaign, musicians have always answered Amnesty's call, and have been willing to stand on the front lines of the war to counter terror with justice and human rights.

Now musicians are being asked by longtime Amnesty supporters such as Peter Gabriel and The Edge to answer that call again. Starting on September 10th and running until the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("UDHR") on December 10th, Amnesty International will be running the Small Places Tour, its most ambitious global music and human rights project since the Human Rights Now! Tour in 1988.

The Small Places Tour is named in honor of human rights pioneer Eleanor Roosevelt, who spoke of human rights mattering "in small places close to home." This is a "tour" with a difference. No one has to travel to join the tour, or change any performance commitments.  Musicians will have many different ways to engage with the tour, including performances as well as offering premium seating packages, meet & greets and other unique fan experiences. Gabriel and The Edge are hoping the Small Places Tour will represent the "passing of the torch" to the next generation of musician-activists.

The Small Places Tour can be reached via its MySpace page, where you can also hear music from Amnesty International supporters.

Meanwhile, watch Peter Gabriel and Amnesty's Bill Shipsey talk about the Small Places Tour: