25 pieces of advice from Alicia Keys, at the opening of the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto!

Johanna French, MCC staff and former SALT participant
August 13, 2006

Just what you wanted. I know all of you were dying to hear the 25 things Alicia Keys said at the opening concert, gathered from her 25 years of age/experience, and in the 25th year that HIV/AIDS was identified. Alicia Keys gives her 25 bits of wisdom. (From what could be remembered by Jo French-and maybe a bit more embellished!)

1. Be Generous—Give of yourselves, people. HIV/AIDS is the major crisis of our time!
2. Be Political—Get involved politically! Things are not going to change if we all wait for other people to do something! ACT NOW!
3. Be Courageous—Take a step forward, speak truth to power!
4. Be Cool—Yeah, like Alicia Keys. Its OK if you can’t dance like she does though-you could probably still be cool =)
5. Be a Volunteer—Give a little time to work on issues of HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and care!
6. Be Relentless—Don’t give up!
7. Be Creative—Use your creative energies to send out new and powerful messages!
8. Be Heartfelt—Love and care, if it’s truly genuine, can go a long way!
9. Be Smart—Know enough to start acting up! You can make a difference!
10. Be Global—Hmmm. If you can read, then read the headlines! If you can’t read, then you probably aren’t reading this (but can still obviously learn a lot more about the state of the world). Yeah, so stay afloat of world issues! We could use more people like BONO, the rock-star, AIDS and POVERTY poet-activist (who unfortunately did not show up for the opening of the XVI International AIDS Conference which I was totally bummed about). But at least he pays attention to the issues that rock our time and is someone who is doing something about it!
11. Be Respectful—Don’t stigmatize people. Everyone is your neighbour! Would you be my neighbour?!
12. Be Child Friendly—Consider the plight and needs of the millions of orphans and vulnerable children around the world.
13. Be a Voice—Speak out!
14. Be a Feminist—If you don’t already know how serious the barrier of gender inequality is to HIV/AIDS prevention, then WAKE UP! It’s time to understand the issues!
15. Be Dutiful—Recognize there are millions of grandmothers who are taking care of orphans! Can’t you be dutiful, too?
16. Be Compassionate—Love people enough to do something about it!
17. Be Outrageous—Be a little crazy and creative when you speak out!
18. Be Giving—Give of yourselves, time and resources!
19. Be Loyal—Remember your promises and make sure the G8 does, too!
20. Be Pushy—Don’t give up. Insist on issues of justice!
21. Be a Rebel—Speak truth to Power!
22. Be Real—Yeah, say it like it is.
23. Be Brazilian—Yeah, way to go Brazil for making and producing ARV medication so that people who can’t afford drugs can finally acquire them!!!
24. Be Human—Put People above Profit!
25. Believe!—We can overcome!

So, inspired yet!?

Alicia, your speech was great but I think we would have liked to hear you sing, too! We did hear the Barenaked Ladies, and we did see some Blue Men, and we were also expecting Stephen Harper, who didn’t make it for the opening (which was stated pretty frequently). Alright, my piece of advice, Mr. Harper, with all due respect: Show up in Mexico for the 2008 AIDS Conference! Or push for a greater Canadian contribution to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS! (Guys, 4 million ain’t that much, especially considering one guy, Bill Gates, is donating 500 million, which the Barenaked Ladies so poignantly stated after their crazy performance including a piece from Phantom of the Opera which was totally outrageous!)