World mega-concerts to aid Third World countries began in the late 70’s. I remember Unesco’s live concert back then in 1979 where music Diva Donna Summer and Rock start Rod Steward drove audiences mad. People were glued to their TVs, it all seen to be for such a good cause. I was a teenager back then.
Reading Reed’s chapter “We Are [Not] the World” in The Art of Protest reveals the other side of these musical global movements that appear to be for a good reason. He compares and highlights the political undertones most people are unaware in particularly the concert Bob Geldof organized for aid relief in Africa. While the concert raised money, it failed to address the cultures of Africa (from Senegal to Ehiopia) and focused on the “pop” British artists performing this fund raising, the white man helping the black man. Moreover, the theme song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” did not go well on a population that hardly has anything to eat nor they celebrate Christmas, a Western religion celebration. While the concert may have originally a noble cause, it also shows the disconnection and lack of sensibility to cultural differences and how to address then to help those in need. 
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