Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something to help save our environment and ourselves. Before I sang “Free Mama Earth” at an Earth Day festival in the park, we had to get up early, drive there in our hybrid car, and unpack. A family of 5 (father, mother & 3 children) woke up under a tree a few feet from where they were setting up the stage, and the mother combed her kids’ hair. Giving them money made me feel better, but it felt too much like the City of LA’s “safe parking” plan for helping homeless Veterans who sleep in their cars. They pick 10 Veterans out of thousands who are homeless, and the 10 can park and sleep in their cars in the Veteran’s Administration West Los Angeles parking lot. That’s like putting a band-aid on a deep wound. Similarly, donating a few dollars to a family is such a small thing, considering their great need. Still, I did something.
I witnessed everything from children picking up trash with mechanical devices; church folks feeding hungry people; to organic gardeners giving away soil, seeds and food plants. But no one talked about the plan to sell 3.3 million acres of public land to turn into more concrete jungles. No one talked about nuclear warfare threats or global warming causing rising sea levels. (The venue where I performed is a California coastal city.)
So, I sang: “Beware, please care, don’t pollute our air. Rethink; we’re on the brink; no water to drink. It’s a shame; we’re to blame for climate change. Deduce; no excuse. Stop abusing Mama Earth. She gave you birth and what you do to Earth, you do to you…Free Mama Earth!”
One Love…
Aria