| ID | 185937 |
| Title Proper | Rockin’ to Free the World? |
| Other Title Information | Amnesty International’s Benefit Concert Tours, 1986–88 |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Schmidli, William Michael |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | It was the culminating moment in what was billed as the most ambitious music event ever staged. On October 14, 1988, 30,000 exuberant spectators packed the Estadio Mundialista football stadium in Mendoza, Argentina for the penultimate event in the Human Rights Now! concert series, a globe-trotting tour with performances in fifteen countries on four continents. Organized by the human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the tour showcased some of the most distinguished popular musicians of the era: Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman, and Youssou N’Dour. Over a six-week period, more than a million people attended concerts, volunteers handed out 1.2 million copies of the Declaration, and hundreds of thousands of concert-goers signed a petition calling upon governments to ratify international human rights treaties and protect human rights advocates. |
| `In' analytical Note | Diplomatic History Vol. 45, No.4; Sep 2021: p.688–713 |
| Journal Source | Diplomatic History Vol: 45 No 4 |
| Key Words | Amnesty International |