Most of us relate slavery to African-Americans being shipped over from Africa to the United States in the 16th through the 19th centuries...few of us are aware of the ongoing struggle many people face in the 21st century.
Modern day slavery is still a strong cell of activity around the world: Globally, some 600,000 to 800,000 people are being trafficked across international boarders each year, 20% of the victims are children.* In the United States, the CIA estimates 50,000 people are trafficked through the USA annually as sex slaves, domestics, garment and agricultural slaves.*
These numbers are startling to say the least; thankfully, there are many groups dedicated to ending this disturbing trend.
Members of IALF will share information via CNN's Freedom Project. Please feel free to check out the following link for information, stats, and ways to help: http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/
At 8:30 PM on Saturday 26th March 2011, lights will switch off around the globe for Earth Hour and people will commit to actions that go beyond the hour.
With Earth Hour almost upon us, our thoughts are with the people of Japan during this incredibly challenging and sad time for their country.
Make sure your engagement goes beyond the hour. Go and get inspired and inspire others: http://www.beyondthehour.org/
Prepare yourself for Earth Hour 2011 with the "Lights Off" Twitter-application. http://eh2011.com #earthhour
Michael Jackson - Planet Earth
Planet Earth, my home, my place A capricious anomaly in the sea of space Planet Earth are you just Floating by, a cloud of dust A minor globe, about to bust A piece of metal bound to rust A speck of matter in a mindless void A lonely spaceship, a large asteroid
Cold as a rock without a hue Held together with a bit of glue Something tells me this isn't true You are my sweetheart soft and blue Do you care, have you a part In the deepest emotions of my own heart Tender with breezes caressing and whole Alive with music, haunting my soul.
In my veins I've felt the mystery Of corridors of time, books of history Life songs of ages throbbing in my blood Have danced the rhythm of the tide and flood Your misty clouds, your electric storm Were turbulent tempests in my own form I've licked the salt, the bitter, the sweet Of every encounter, of passion, of heat Your riotous color, your fragrance, your taste Have thrilled my senses beyond all haste In your beauty, I've known the how Of timeless bliss, this moment of now
Planet Earth are you just Floating by, a cloud of dust A minor globe, about to bust A piece of metal bound to rust A speck of matter in a mindless void A lonely spaceship, a large asteroid Cold as a rock without a hue Held together with a bit of glue Something tells me this isn't true You are my sweetheart gentle and blue Do you care, have you a part In the deepest emotions of my own heart Tender with breezes caressing and whole Alive with music, haunting my soul. Planet Earth, gentle and blue With all my heart, I love you.
----
Addition March 27, 2011:
Thank you everyone who participated in this global movement!!!
Ai Weiwei's studio before the destruction. photo (c) The Telegraph
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was featured here already as he is a true Soldier of L.O.V.E. fighting for the rights of the unheard voices of the lost children and as a peaceful activist for freedom and democracy in China and around the world.
He uses his phenomenal art to truely make a change and is therefore seriously and constantly under the attack of Chinese authorities, where he almost lost his life being beaten down so hard on the head.
Ai Weiwei never gives up and doesn't even turn his back on China.
On January 11th, 2011 Chinese authorities took another method to bring him down. They completely destroyed his studio building in Shanghai (worth about 1 million US-$). This was probably also a reaction to Ai Weiwei's support of Nobel Peace Price winner Liu Xiaobo.
BEIJING — The studio would have stood at the heart of an embryonic arts cluster on the outskirts of Shanghai, a draw for luminaries from around the world.
It took two years to build, and one day to tear down. (...)
“Everything is gone,” he said. “It’s all black now. They finished the job at 9 o’clock last night.” (...)
Meanwhile Ai Weiwei's fantastic work of Art "Sunflower Seeds" is still shown in Tate Modern in London.
This outstanding piece of Art shows hundreds of millions of Sunflower Seeds that seem to be identical but are apparently unique and handmade porcelaine in China.
As we all know about Michael Jackson's love for Sunflowers, the Sunflower Seeds represent the "seeds of love" and a basis for love to grow...
Ai Weiwei's "Sunflower Seeds" in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern.
Watch the video about "Sunflower Seeds" here:
Let's show human rights activist Ai Weiwei and China our love and support!!! I guess you all saw what happened when the Michael Jackson bronze statue was unveiled in China recently...
We wish you all a very happy new year with many blessings!
I hope we as the MJ Fam will continue to stay together in unity and keep Michael's message alive. We are the ones to "make that change"...
Together we can Heal The World and continue to fulfill Michael's dream!
This song by R. Kelly is dedicated to you all... The lyrics reminded me of the MJ Fam right away.
"Relief" appeared as a bonus track on the "Best Buy" version of R. Kelly's recent "Love Letter" album...
R. Kelly - Relief Lyrics
The storm is over, and i'm so glad the sun is shining We fast and pray and it feels good to know that he answers Confusion everywhere, without a clue on how to make things better A toast to the man upstairs, 'cause he puts the pieces back together
Now lets step to a new tune, cause everything is o.k. You're alright, and I'm alright Well, let's celebrate
What a relief to know that, we are one What a relief to know that, the war is over What a relief to know that, there is an angel in the sky What a relief to know that, love is still alive
Although we struggle, know that help is on the way (yeah) The power of love, we can not underestimate (no) Seems like you're gonna break, and there is no escape, you still got to have faith, yeah And know that love, is gonna step up to the plate (yeah)
Now lets step to a brand new tune, 'cause everything is o.k. You're alright, and I'm alright Oh, so let's celebrate
What a relief to know that, we are one What a relief to know that, the war is over What a relief to know that, there is an angel in the sky What a relief to know that, love is still alive
Listen, See I'm just trying to bring relief for those that need it Somebody help somebody, now go and repeat it Understand that struggle has no colors See, we all got our stormy weather, Thats all the more reason why we should join hands and pull it together
Steppin' gives us a way out through the back door So take a deep breath and grap somebody and hit the floor
What a relief to know that, we are one What a relief to know that, the war is over What a relief to know that, there is an angel in the sky What a relief to know that, love is still alive
What a relief to know that, we are one What a relief to know that, the war is over What a relief to know that, there is an angel in the sky What a relief to know that, love is still alive
After the devasting earthquakquake 9 months ago I started to follow some guys who have gotten in on action for Haiti. One of these human beings is @ShaunKing, a 31 year old husband, father, pastor, and grad student (in that order) in downtown Atlanta. He is the Lead Pastor of The Courageous Church- a new, diverse, exciting church in the heart of downtown Atlanta. Shaun has been shot at, robbed, beaten within an inch of his life, and nearly killed in car crash, but just won’t die. He has taken this as a sign that God hasn´t finished with him and has decided to squeeze all of the potential out of life as a sign of his thankfulness to God for so many second chances. Today, after the shocking news about the Haiti Cholera Outbreak, I found the message below on Shaun´s facebook site. Help to spread the good prevention around. You´ll find the links in the text below. Show THAT YOU CARE,tweet the news stories and demand a solution.
Thank you for reading. Love and God bless. Cassarah (from the "it´s-all-for-love-webteam")
"I am writing this quickly, but have thought it through and talked with people on the ground in Haiti and here in the states. I will work with anybody who wants to be a part of this solution. We have already sent money, supplies, people, and more to Central Haiti and they are there as I type.
I hope I have built up credibility with you for getting things done. If not, I urge you to find someone you trust that is a part of this solution before thousands of people die of a preventable illness that is cheap to combat.
1. I honestly think $100,000 that is spent well would solve this entire problem. The items that we need to stop the spread of cholera and nurse people back to health are inexpensive. Every dollar you donate @ aHomeInHaiti.org for the next 7 days will go directly to this outbreak. This is the quickest way to get things flowing. If you give today we will spend it right away on antibiotics, clean water, salt, sugar, iv's, antibacterial solution, and education tools.
2. We have a company offering to give us $100,000 for our causes in Haiti. What we have to do is SUPER SIMPLE. If you go to TripAlertz.comand sign up there, they will donate $1 to our cause - up to $100,000. Over 10,000 people have signed up already and we have 90,000 opportunities left to raise $100,000! It take less than 20 seconds, is free (no credit card needed), is not a scam, etc. The company is like the Groupon of travel.
3. Continue to make this a BIG DEAL on Twitter & Facebook. Do NOT spread misinformation, but tweet the news stories, demand a solution, and show the world YOU CARE! I am 100% sure that YOU & I are able to affect the news cycle and make this a priority for the world. This is essential.
Let's make this the TOP NEWS story on the news tonight!
4. Help spread GOOD PREVENTION information in every way you know how.
Here is a PDF on cholera prevention in English. Here is one in Kreyol.
5. This last one is about your heart. Commit in your heart that you will see this solution all the way through. Kids are dying because they are drinking dirty, infected water and YOU can change it. Let's do it.
UPDATE :: I am working with a few people & organizations on the ground and I will report how you can support them directly as I get the information."
They hated the Wall, but what could they do? It was too strong to break through.
They feared the Wall, but didn't that make sense? Many who tried to climb over it were killed.
They distrusted the Wall, but who wouldn't? Their enemies refused to tear down one brick, no matter how long the peace talks dragged on.
The Wall laughed grimly. "I'm teaching you a good lesson," it boasted. "If you want to build for eternity, don't bother with stones. Hatred, fear, and distrust are so much stronger." They knew the Wall was right, and they almost gave up. Only one thing stopped them. They remembered who was on the other side. Grandmother, cousin, sister, wife. Beloved faces that yearned to be seen.
"What's happening?" the Wall asked, trembling. Without knowing what they did, they were looking through the Wall, trying to find their dear ones.
Silently, from one person to another, love kept up its invisible work.
"Stop it!" the Wall shrieked. "I'm falling apart."
But it was too late.
A million hearts had found each other.
The Wall had fallen before it came down.
~Michael Jackson, excerpt from his book " Dancing The Dream"
Anthony Jackson is a young American actor, singer and songwriter. He's currently working on his first studio album "Anton Classic" to be released this year.
His first single is called "Come To My City" and is out now!
To listen and order from amazon.com click here. For itunes click here.
Also check out this video: Come to My City - Anthony Jackson & Dancer Brian Woolridge
Anthony's grandfather is Joseph's younger brother. His parents are Tony and Debra Jackson. When Anthony was 7 years old his father Tony passed away. At that time Michael became signifigantly involved in Anthony's life. He is close to family, especially from the next generation.
See Anthony's heartfelt speech at the "Forever Michael" event on June 26, 2010:
Michael and Anthony:
Keep supporting the Jacksons legacy and show some L.O.V.E. for Anthony!
A few impressions from the MJ memorial place on June 26, 2010... I have never seen so much love shown for a person anywhere. Truely magical. Enjoy!
More than anything I hope Michael can see all the love people show for him worldwide!
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Translation: Dear Michael, I am very sad that you are dead. Without you the world is boring and more sad. Here you live on through your music and above I know that you are now singing in the choir of angels... You are the only King of Pop! I LOVE YOU!!! Isadora
See the amazing pics of June 25, 2010 -> Click here.
plans for the “It´s all for L.O.V.E” blog on June 25 are coming up.
Karen Faye said: “We should honor his life and what he gave the world in June...and try not to feel sorry for our personal loss.”
Supporting this intent, our All-for-LOVE-webteam wants to publish very personal statements from Michael´s beautiful international family of fans to honor Michael on this day. We know that you all will go on loving him. It hurts that he is no longer physically with us – but we all feel his spirit every now and than very strong and we a very grateful for this. He brought us together on the internet to share our grief and he keeps us together to comfort each other and to bring LOVE back into the world to make a change.
If you want to take an active part of our plan for this blog it would be nice to send us a note with some personal words. You may of course take your favorite quote or some of Michael´s lyrics. Your message will get more personal, when it is handwritten and than scaned into a jpg-file.
Add your twitter-name, please and –if you can agree to this- your country right below your statement. For the security of your privacy and data: We will delete your mail and address all at once and just save your attachments or mail content you want us to publish on this blog.
Thanks for joining us and all your support. We really do appreciate this very much. As single persons we are nothing but weak– but our community and LOVE makes us strong and allows us to make a change. Remember: “We all are ONE.”
Photo credit: Ólafur Eggertsson (icelandic farmer). Click to enlarge.
An Icelandic volcano, dormant for 200 years, has erupted, ripping a 1km-long fissure in a field of ice. The last volcanic eruption in the Eyjafjallajoekull area occurred in 1821.
This news remained a bit unnoticed at first because Iceland is "an island far away in the North"... So why should WE care?
Now, 2 days later the entire flight traffic in Northern Europe is stopped because the volcano ashes all over the continent are extremly dangerous for flight engines.
NOW, we do care! But what do we care about? We ask: Will I get returns for my ticket? How do I get to the place I wanted to travel? Who pays me for it?
Well, you will get returns because the flights got cancelled by MAJOR FORCE!
Ok, now start thinking. MAJOR FORCE? What is it? WHO is it?
We all know that air travel is a part of a major problem we have with global warming. But we "need to fly" around the world all the time. Because we're all so busy...
Now this MAJOR FORCE fights back and leaves us grounded without exceptions. Not for presidents, not for CEOs, no one.
Did you ever stop to notice?
What happens? Nothing. The earth doesn't stop because you can't fly. Because you don't have to.
I see this incident as a kind of "Earth Hour" forced by Planet Earth. She leaves us grounded with time to think... Think about our very own relationship we have with her. Think about the "importance" of our being. Think about our modern mobile life.
If we're not doing it by ourselves, she's doing it for us. Reminding us of our equality, belittling our constant rush.
We have got to slow down. We have got to listen.
Another interesting fact. Volcano eruptions are cooling down our global climate because the ashes absorb a bit of the sunlight. It's global and measurable.
Did you ever stop to notice?
I have been to Iceland and wanted to return this year because in my eyes it is the most beautiful country in the world that is so full of nature and contrast that it keeps leaving you speechless by the beauty of God's creation. This is the country where you can see the evolution of our planet like it was everywhere millions of years ago.
I remember the Icelandic people being very aware of that and living with the forces of nature totally different from us. They know from their daily experience that MAJOR FORCES rule their lives more than their own urgencies. After being strongly affected by the consequences of the financial crisis they have returned to their roots. MAJOR FORCE.
So I had to smile about Hjördis Gudmundsdóttir, the head of Iceland's flight authority ISAVIA when asked about duration of the eruption (hello?): „Maybe the weather gods can tell us? We don't know if it will stop tomorrow or after a year or what. Nobody can answer that question."
It lasted more than two years the last time it erupted...
Take your time, slow down. Join "Earth Year", feel the MAJOR FORCE.
Did you ever stop to notice? This crying earth, these weeping shores?
After the news that Michael Jackson passed away countless tributes - either songs, newspapers and magazines articles and special issues, fans gatherings, vigils and so on - came to confirm what tabloid media tried to cover up. Michael's message of love and his lifetime work have reached and inspired tens of millions around the world.
A friend of mine told me that the pain and sorrow I feel is proportional to the joy I experienced. The joy and energy Michael shared with the world.
The Michael Jackson fan community has long become a family. A world wide family bond by a strong positive message of making a change, taking action so that this world will become a better place for all mankind.
We are also bond by our will to honor and preserve Michael's artistic legacy, acknowledge and continue his life long efforts to help and bring relief to children around the world.
Having said that, the love blog team would like to present to you a tribute project.
The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait offers the opportunity for millions of fans to come together and help create the largest Michael Jackson tribute in the world
Behind each dot you see in the portrait below, there is a real person – a fan –somewhere in the world who came here, like you, to be part of Michael's legacy.
A dot is not drawn on the canvas by Artist David Ilan until someone signs up for it.
The drawing represents multiple moments in Michael's life, from his younger years to more recent times. There will be more than one image of Michael in this drawing.
Dance rehearsals can go on past midnight, but this time I stopped at ten. "I hope you don't mind," I said, looking up into space, "but that's enough for today." A voice from the control room spoke. "You okay?"
"A little tired, I guess," I said.
I slipped on a windbreaker and headed down the hall. Running footsteps came up behind me. I was pretty sure who they belonged to. "I know you too well," she said, catching up with me. "What's really wrong?"
I hesitated. "Well, I don't know how this sounds, but I saw a picture today in the papers. A dolphin had drowned in a fishing net. From the way its body was tangled in the lines, you could read so much agony. Its eyes were vacant, yet there was still that smile, the one dolphins never lose, even when they die..." My voice trailed off.
She put her hand lightly in mine. "I know, I know."
"No, you don't know all of it yet. It's not just that I felt sad, or had to face the fact that an innocent being had died. Dolphins love to dance -- of all the creatures in the sea, that's their mark. Asking nothing from us, they cavort in the waves while we marvel. They race ahead of ships, not to get there first but to tell us, 'It's all meant to be play. Keep to your course, but dance while you do it.' "So there I was, in the middle of rehearsal, and I thought, 'They're killing a dance.' And then it seemed only right to stop. I can't keep the dance from being killed, but at least I can pause in memory, as one dancer to another. Does that make any sense?"
Her eyes were tender. "Sure, in its way. Probably we'll wait years before everyone agrees on how to solve this thing. So many interests are involved. But it's too frustrating waiting for improvements tomorrow. Your heart wanted to have its say now."
"Yes," I said, pushing the door open for her. "I just had this feeling, and that's enough for today."
As we all know Michael Jackson very much cared about the planet and all the animals that God created for it.
Be it coincidence or not this year when MJ was honored at the Oscar awards, a movie was winning "Best Feature Documentary" award that we all should acknowledge.
It is called "The Cove" and is about the killing of dolphins in a cove in Japan. I haven't yet seen the movie myself and it will take a lot of energy for me to do so as seeing pictures like these make me feel like watching someone killing a family member.
On Thursday he and Nobel prize winner Herta Mueller (Romanian-German) were discussing politics and their background growing up / living in a totalitarian system and telling the audience about their personal experience and what they their motivation is for resistance.
The event was part of "Lit.Cologne" a large annual literature event with readings and events all over the city of Cologne, Germany.
The discussion reflects so much of Michael's message and I can see a reflection in the constitution of our blog team here -> Romania, China, Germany.
It shows how much impact artists have in their constant fight for their message of changing the world for the better or of "making that change" as Michael would say.
No matter what the background or the kind of Art may be it helps to raise people's awareness and hope. And strongly but surely a change is gonna come. The political dimension of Art that has a meaning is very strong. I am glad there are people like Herta and Ai out there and noticed all over the world.
We learned so much from Michael, let's learn from them as well!
"Asked if there could be any hope at all, he assured his listeners he lived in daily hope that new technologies, especially the Internet, would change the situation and bring democracy to China.
Herta Mueller saw Romania’s brutal regime fall. Ai Weiwei hopes he too will see China's one-party system fall."
We have to speak out for it in the name of Michael, the children, the world.
WE ARE THE WORLD!!!!!!
------
Addition March 14:
The L.O.V.E. blog team would like to thank Ai Weiwei for retweeting the link to this post on his Twitter account.
God blotted out the sun as if to let us know how black the deed which was being done, and out of that blackness Jesus cried, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?". His final words expressed his complete surrender to the will of God as He said, "It is finished; Father into Thy hands I commend my spirit". He then bowed His head and died.
Even the earth could not accept the death of its Creator and Master without showing grief. There was a great earthquake which shook the countryside and made all people afraid. The only fear which we need to have, however, is that of refusing the love He showed in dying for us. The theme of our lives ought to be, "I'll live for Him who died for me, how happy then my soul shall be. I'll live for Him who died for me, my Saviour and my God".
http://www.bible.ca/d-crucifixion-of-Jesus.htm
Please keep praying for everyone affected by God's grief!!!
These numbers are startling to say the least; thankfully, there are many groups dedicated to ending this disturbing trend. 
