US Gov. launches global music and peace initiative sponsored by arms manufacturers

Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, playing the guitar at the initiative launch event. Photo retrieved from US government website.

On September 27, 2023, the US government launched the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative according to a press release on the government’s website.

The article states that, since World War II, the United States has “called upon American musicians and artists to use music as a diplomatic tool to promote peace and democracy” and that music “gives voice to democratic ideals, to the powerful and the powerless, across borders and beyond barriers, and to generations of citizens – from all walks of life – worldwide.”

Being quite the troublemaker around the world as well, the United States government has been met with mixed feedback and doubts about the initiative.

Veteran US protest musician, David Rovics, predicts, sarcastically, that “people writing songs against US imperialism” will not be winning any awards on behalf of the initiative.

As Rovics furthermore points out, this music and peace initiative is, in part, sponsored by corrupt, oil spilling monsters Chevron and war tools manufacturers Boeing. One could argue, that such corporations who have been accused of being affiliated with war crimes, silencing and killing activists and polluting nature for decades should not be connected to a global initiative meant to spread art, peace and unity.

As an alternative there is always Music Action International and Freemuse, Musicians Without Borders, Playing for Change and many more.

An anti-Chevron protest song by Romanian rapper Dragonu AKA 47
𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗼𝗻! 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮, 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂!
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