Today I had the honor of going to one of the greatest concert arrangements this country has ever seen, 46664 Arctic. It was a twelve hour long concert featuring various artists, some international like for instance Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, Robert Plant (lead singer of legendary band Led Zeppelin for those who didn’t know), Razorlight, and one of my favourite bands, Saybia.
As some of you might or might not know, the 46664 concerts are held in association with the Nelson Mandela Foundation in order to raise awareness and commitment to the HIV/AIDS issue the world is facing, and this one was no exception.
While the bands and artists were certainly awesome, some even more than others, the definate highlight of the day was when Nelson Mandela himself entered the stage. This 87 year old was received by a louder applause and cheer than any of the other artists and bands could generate, and not without reason. His speech appealed to all of us who were present, and I spent all 15 minutes he was on stage with chills down my spine. People were moved to tears by his sheer presence, and of course his speech. I am truly honored to have seen such a great man, one of the greatest heroes of our time, in person.
His speech really got me thinking, and I have donated what little I could afford to donate to the AIDS/HIV cause, and I have also put up a link to another worthy cause which is strongly supported by among others, Nelson Mandela – MakePovertyHistory.org – Which you should be seeing up in the right corner of the page. Be sure to click that to see how you can help out.
So yeah, after seeing Nelson Mandela in person, he is my new hero!