The Earth Concert 1989

1700 hectares of rain forest was being burned in 1989 when we started a global telethon to raise awareness. Jean Hudon, a Canadian, launched the project after writing ‘The Immortal Child’ and his passion for raising awareness grew across North America and beyond. Unfortunately, Jean didn’t have the business plan required for major investors.

The plan was to organize fund-raising concerts with satellite uplinks for video in 32 cities around the world with a telethon running to handle the donations. I was contacted and asked to run the Phoenix location in early 1989, with plans to move forward by the end of the year. We held meetings and attracted a host of volunteers, one of them even had the ear of Coca-Cola executives. We had a $2 million proposal in play, and they were ready, though we need to present a business plan. Unfortunately, Jean’s vision wasn’t well-grounded and, in spite of the support, he had not developed a business plan.

We went ahead with a local show, though, much smaller and only somewhat effective in garnering attention and raising awareness. Now we are faced with the same issue only it has developed into a massive problem and corporate money has been the cause of its continuation with no respect for the indigenous people being displaced, let alone the catastrophic global disaster its created. Just recently, a social media push to expose the atrocity featured an indigenous woman with her village being burned in the background.

A recent post from Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens:

The forests of the Amazon are burning. The smoke is blocking the sun in some Brazilian cities. The fires are spreading to the Amazon forest in other countries. Fires cannot read the signs indicating State frontiers. President Emmanuel Macron of France has said that such a spreading destruction of forests is an world emergency and should be discussed by the G7 leaders who are meeting in France this Saturday.President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil has replied that these firers are a purely domestic matter and the G7 attitudes are a neo-colonial policy of the past. World Citizens believe that the Amazon as well as other great forest areas are part of the comon heritage of humanity and that their destruction concerns us all. Thus the Association of World Citizens, the organized voice of world and global citizens, calls for immediate steps to preserve the Amazon forest and to develop policies for the ecologically-sound development of the area. As Citizens of the World, we stress that humanity cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected.Your help in strengthening this appeal is most appreciated.


More recently many celebrities, musicians and business people have joined in the noise to raise awareness and condemn the actions of both corporate greed and the Brazilian president for encouraging loggers and farmers to clear the land for Big Food, specifically for grazing cattle. This is the same situation that began in the 1980s and has been escalating since. Now it may be too late.

Environmentally speaking, the lack of consideration of not just the rain forest and it being the lungs of Earth is alarming enough. The ecosystem itself has been one of the most stable on Earth, providing thousands of species safe haven and supporting innumerable indigenous peoples as well. It’s not enough to be angry. That serves no one. Swift and decisive action is necessary to stop this activity. Even doing that, the ability to put the fires out is one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced.

Be the Change! Put pressure on your legislative representatives and government officials. Perhaps these actions will help to unify our governments for the good of all people on Earth today. We’re all in jeopardy because of it. We’ve all contributed to it with our mass consumption of fast foods. When will profit succumb to the welfare of people and planet?

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