The Grateful Dead and Charity

Brother Esau is a Grateful Dead tribute band, so perhaps it's important to say a word or two about why we believe the band worthy of a tribute.  The Grateful Dead was a band that was often caricatured as a sloppy, drug-fueled exercise in hippie nostalgia.  At their worst, the caricature was appropriate.  At their best, however, the Dead was an entire culture on wheels and a musical experience unlike any other ("Like Rolling Thunder").  They were also a powerful business committed to high ideals.

One of those ideals was generosity, charity.  Founders of the Rex Foundation and contributors to numbers of other good works, The Grateful Dead reluctantly waded into the world of philanthropy.  In 1988, in response to the band's contributions to a foundation set up to preserve the rain forests, Jerry Garcia expressed exasperation over how little the rest of the world was doing about this tremendously important issue:  "Somebody has to do something," he said.  But added:  "It seems pathetic that it has to be us."

So it is with most of us who see trouble in the world.  Who are we to think we can change it?  Perhaps here it's appropriate to drop one final quote from Margaret Meade:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Here's Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders, "Blues for the Rainforest:"

The Water Crisis

Darfur.  Haiti.  Ethiopia.  Peru.  Sudan.  Cambodia.

Everywhere you look, there are people who lack the fundamental element of civilization:  Clean water.

I see water as the issue of our century.  Whether it's our own depleting riparian resources, the Israelis and the Palestinians haggling over the dwindling gifts of the Jordan River, or the droughts of Africa, this is a problem that won't go away without innovation.

When it comes to the Colorado River and the Jordan River, we have some serious engineering problems, not to speak at all of the political and the humanitarian sides of the dilemma.  But when it comes to Darfur and many of Wine to Water's target countries, the innovations already exist:  Ceramic filters.  Wells.  Latrines.  Bringing the most basic plumbing and filtration systems to these countries can change everything.  There is a deep relationship between health and wealth.  When people are well, they can work.

Here's another video about Doc Hendley and Wine to Water, showing the recognition this organization has received on the international level:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNWvhCqTrcU

Brother Esau: Wine to Water Benefit Concert, April 30th, 2011

On April 30th, at 8 pm, Brother Esau, a Grateful Dead tribute band, will be holding a benefit concert at The Church of the Covenant in Greensboro, North Carolina.  The charity we hope to raise money for is Wine to Water, an organization that seeks to bring clean water to people all across the developing world.  For a brief introduction to this North Carolina based charity, see the following video of its founder, Greensboro's own Doc Hendley, at Asheville's TED conference in 2009:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-IW1gankbM

I got the inspiration to put on this concert from a writing class that I teach at North Carolina A&T State University. Last fall, in her final presentation on a figure that was transforming the world through a new technology, Lolita Jackson introduced our class to Doc Hendley and his water project.  Although some of Hendley's tech is rather primitive (carbon filters, wells), his approach to promotion is certainly a testament to the technologies of the 21st century.  Just as social networking is transforming the Mid-East as we speak, so is it connecting the world to this beautiful organization, Wine to Water.

Thank you, Lolita, and thank you, Doc!

More later...