Thanksgiving is over…and for some it never was.
December 7th is a well-known date to
historians…Pearl Harbor Day – A day that will live in infamy! Musicians might remember it as the day Harry
Chapin was born in 1942.
Chapin was a musician/songwriter/world class humanitarian
& a reformer of sorts. Not that he
preached for political change… but that he sang' performed and gave his
heart to a cause that has been in the forefront of the news lately – Hunger!
On the political front he was an important part of the
Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977.
His efforts on behalf of all causes was the result of a self
- propelling will to make a difference in this "world" with his life. He
championed even small causes like a benefit concert for the Landmark Theater
here in Syracuse, a thing he did twice.
Harry became an inspiration for hunger causes not only
around the world but also because he worked to bring out the plight of the hungry here
in the United States… A hunger that has not gone away but has gotten worse!!
I recently worked on a hunger study because of the
cancellation of dollars for SNAP (food stamps –WIC) programs. I was shocked to read the figures and I was shocked by the hypocrisy of politicians giving so many tax breaks and subsidies to "big" agriculture and ridiculously placing a humanitarian program in the same funding
category.
One humorous thesis I read was - that if you own a home, a car
and a color TV then you can afford to feed your children.
!1- Who really owns their own home? Loans, insurance, and taxes on a fixed
income...count for what here???
2 – Car?
A good majority of the poor live in rural areas where an old car of any
type is a necessity, needed not only to run around in… but to get to stores to
buy food, to go to doctors, and to get to WORK since there is no real rural
transportation!
3 – A color TV?
Everyone who has children or needs to be informed has a TV… people give
them away for free… as they upgrade to huge flat screens!!
Chapin realized the importance of not only having events to
raise money but to work to find the root causes of the problem so he affiliated
with FOOD FIRST an organization that claims “abundance not scarcity best
describes the world’s food supply“… for information visit their site... www.foodfirst.org.
I think it is high time the foolish politicians who fuel
hateful remarks about the poor being lazy and worthless are voted out of office… and also that the people who foolishly believe all “poor and elderly on SS are takers” get called out… Harry would have wanted it.
For his effort Chapin was posthumously awarded the
Congressional Gold medal for his work… and what interests me most is he carried
a humanitarian message with him to his grave…
a message we should all heed and strive to achieve. On his gravestone is carved his motto from one
of his song “I Wonder What Would Happen to this World”:
Oh if man tried
To take his time on
earth
And prove before he
died
What one man’s life
could be worth
I wonder what would
happen to this World!
He died on July 16th 1981…too bad we don’t have
him now to fight against politicians whose programs and greed promote hunger
and poverty not eliminate it!
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