Playing for Change: Peace Through Music

Hello internet world, I've been on a bit of a hiatus, but I have returned to bring you something I discovered just about 2 hours ago.

I woke up around 4:45 am this morning and looked at the TV where Bill Moyers Journal was playing, and recognized instantly Grandpa Elliot. Grandpa Elliot is a local street musician in downtown New Orleans(where I'm from and currently reside) and he is the sweetest old man. Definitely one of the most fascinating and most interesting people I know. I've seen him perform on the corner or Toulouse and Royal several times as well as in front of the court house in the Quarter. Oh, and when I worked at RadioShack I had helped many times put minutes on his phone. But anyways, I saw this on TV and thought, "Wow, Grandpa's on TV....but why?" I then noticed that the scenes of the show were transiting between different street performers from around the world, including two others from New Orleans(Washboard Chaz and Roberto Luti). They were performing, in sync, the song Stand By Me. It was beautiful. Well, after the song/video finished, Bill Moyers came on and started talking about what we just saw. It was an exert from a documentary, Playing for Change: Peace Through Music, by Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls. I was fascinated by it, at first by the simple fact that Grandpa Elliot was in it, but then by the idea about it. The interview Bill Moyers had with Mark Johnson revealed the intent behind the film, and it was simply...to bring together the world through music. I further researched and discovered the Playing for Change Foundation (PFCF) and what they were doing. In addition to making this documentary, they have and are still building music schools around the world. The fist I believe was in South Africa, which they built right smack-dab in the middle of a lower-class community where one of the performers in the film live. I believe in what this foundation is doing, and for the first time in a long time...if not ever, I see a cause that I am truly motivated to stand behind. I hope everyone checks out the website and blog, and the video from Bill Moyers Journal, and support what the PFCF are doing.



Websites: Playing for Change(flash)
Playing for Change

Bill Moyers video: Here