Do They Know It’s Christmas has a fond place in my heart. I was a new graduate in 1984, and Bob Geldof’s righteous anger was intoxicating. Buying the single and watching Geldof brute force it into the charts felt inspiring.
Band Aid, and its charity single, was, of course, followed by Live Aid in July 1985. My music-mad boyfriend, now husband, went only slightly pale when I told him a good friend was getting married the day before the epic concert. It meant he would miss hours of it while travelling back home. Otherwise, he would have been glued to every second.
The 40th anniversary of Do They Know It’s Christmas in 2024 reignited a simmering controversy. Were Band Aid and Live Aid just evidence of white saviour syndrome, the infantilisation of Africa as chronically in need of salvation from patronising white people?
Did the whole shebang do any good at all?
Looking back at the footage, I am struck by how young almost everyone involved was, and how earnest. Bob Geldof was then a grumpy young man, and he is now a grumpy old man.
Ethiopia
He had seen Michael Buerk’s harrowing report from Ethiopia of children moments from death because food was so scarce.
Geldof roped in everyone he knew to help make a charity single.
The song was never any great shakes. It was full of cringeworthy lines, including the opening one.
Philip, the apostle, was on his way to Gaza when he met a nameless eunuch driving along, reading from the Book of Isaiah. As a result, the first Ethiopian convert to Christianity is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.
Ethiopia is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Given that over 60% of the population is Christian, including a tiny Catholic community, yes, they did know it was Christmas, even though they were starving.
More serious questions arise about whether charitable giving serves only to perpetuate dependency, whereas sustainable development in partnership with local people respects people’s dignity and agency.
If I see someone hurt at the side of the road…. I couldn’t care less if they are green and from Mars. I give them a hand”
When challenged in this way by something Mary Robinson said on a Late, Late Show tribute for his seventieth birthday, Geldof responded with typical terseness.
“If I see someone hurt at the side of the road…. I couldn’t care less if they are green and from Mars. I give them a hand.”
Whether intended or not, that irresistibly reminds us of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus told us not to pass by.
Birhan Woldu illustrates both sides of the story. As a starving three-year-old in 1984, she became the face of Ethiopian starvation. What might have been her dying moments were broadcast during Live Aid. Thanks in part to the care of Irish nursing sisters, she survived.
She was brought on stage by Geldof at Live 8 in 2005, and she seemed symbolic of all that charity can achieve.
But although grateful for her life, she says that ultimately, food aid is nowhere near enough, because the structural factors that create famine demand more as a response than charitable giving.
In 1984, we were too naive to realise the Ethiopian situation was made profoundly worse by the malign impact of not just drought, but of civil war. The ruling communist military junta led by Mengistu Haile Mariam operated a policy of forced displacement that led to starvation.
Bob Geldof. Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Elmar J.Lordemann.
Aid
Effective aid agencies like Trócaire work in partnership with local people, respecting their greater knowledge of their own needs.
Tragically, although the proportion of undernourished people in low and middle-income countries fell by nearly half between 1990 and 2015, the trend then began to reverse, not least because developed countries began to renege on promises of aid.
Recent devastating cuts to USAID have had depressing consequences everywhere, but particularly in Ethiopia. Over 5,000 public health workers (including doctors, nurses, and midwives) have been laid off.
Charitable giving has to work alongside pressure for the restoration of aid from states, all in respectful partnership with people in the Global South.
Ultimately, Band Aid and Live Aid’s greatest success may have been to mobilise public opinion, to put pressure on governments to take action”
The opposite problem occurs when people declare that only State and global action matter. In Dilexi Te, Pope Leo praises integral development, but also almsgiving and face-to-face care for the poor.
Band Aid may have been naive and a bit simplistic, but it cannot be dismissed.
Ultimately, Band Aid and Live Aid’s greatest success may have been to mobilise public opinion, to put pressure on governments to take action, and to shake us out of our apathy.
It also saved many lives, and continues to do so by funding organisations like Mary’s Meals, which distributes 3,011,060 meals in schools every day, including 240,00 in Ethiopia alone.
Enabling people to attend school, especially girls, will truly help feed the world.
Do they know it’s Christmas?
Do They Know It’s Christmas has a fond place in my heart. I was a new graduate in 1984, and Bob Geldof’s righteous anger was intoxicating. Buying the single and watching Geldof brute force it into the charts felt inspiring.
Band Aid, and its charity single, was, of course, followed by Live Aid in July 1985. My music-mad boyfriend, now husband, went only slightly pale when I told him a good friend was getting married the day before the epic concert. It meant he would miss hours of it while travelling back home. Otherwise, he would have been glued to every second.
The 40th anniversary of Do They Know It’s Christmas in 2024 reignited a simmering controversy. Were Band Aid and Live Aid just evidence of white saviour syndrome, the infantilisation of Africa as chronically in need of salvation from patronising white people?
Did the whole shebang do any good at all?
Looking back at the footage, I am struck by how young almost everyone involved was, and how earnest. Bob Geldof was then a grumpy young man, and he is now a grumpy old man.
Ethiopia
He had seen Michael Buerk’s harrowing report from Ethiopia of children moments from death because food was so scarce.
Geldof roped in everyone he knew to help make a charity single.
The song was never any great shakes. It was full of cringeworthy lines, including the opening one.
Philip, the apostle, was on his way to Gaza when he met a nameless eunuch driving along, reading from the Book of Isaiah. As a result, the first Ethiopian convert to Christianity is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.
Ethiopia is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Given that over 60% of the population is Christian, including a tiny Catholic community, yes, they did know it was Christmas, even though they were starving.
More serious questions arise about whether charitable giving serves only to perpetuate dependency, whereas sustainable development in partnership with local people respects people’s dignity and agency.
When challenged in this way by something Mary Robinson said on a Late, Late Show tribute for his seventieth birthday, Geldof responded with typical terseness.
“If I see someone hurt at the side of the road…. I couldn’t care less if they are green and from Mars. I give them a hand.”
Whether intended or not, that irresistibly reminds us of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus told us not to pass by.
Birhan Woldu illustrates both sides of the story. As a starving three-year-old in 1984, she became the face of Ethiopian starvation. What might have been her dying moments were broadcast during Live Aid. Thanks in part to the care of Irish nursing sisters, she survived.
She was brought on stage by Geldof at Live 8 in 2005, and she seemed symbolic of all that charity can achieve.
But although grateful for her life, she says that ultimately, food aid is nowhere near enough, because the structural factors that create famine demand more as a response than charitable giving.
In 1984, we were too naive to realise the Ethiopian situation was made profoundly worse by the malign impact of not just drought, but of civil war. The ruling communist military junta led by Mengistu Haile Mariam operated a policy of forced displacement that led to starvation.
Aid
Effective aid agencies like Trócaire work in partnership with local people, respecting their greater knowledge of their own needs.
Tragically, although the proportion of undernourished people in low and middle-income countries fell by nearly half between 1990 and 2015, the trend then began to reverse, not least because developed countries began to renege on promises of aid.
Recent devastating cuts to USAID have had depressing consequences everywhere, but particularly in Ethiopia. Over 5,000 public health workers (including doctors, nurses, and midwives) have been laid off.
Charitable giving has to work alongside pressure for the restoration of aid from states, all in respectful partnership with people in the Global South.
The opposite problem occurs when people declare that only State and global action matter. In Dilexi Te, Pope Leo praises integral development, but also almsgiving and face-to-face care for the poor.
Band Aid may have been naive and a bit simplistic, but it cannot be dismissed.
Ultimately, Band Aid and Live Aid’s greatest success may have been to mobilise public opinion, to put pressure on governments to take action, and to shake us out of our apathy.
It also saved many lives, and continues to do so by funding organisations like Mary’s Meals, which distributes 3,011,060 meals in schools every day, including 240,00 in Ethiopia alone.
Enabling people to attend school, especially girls, will truly help feed the world.
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