The 10th May of 1994 was a historical day for the story of South Africa and humanity, the inauguration day of Nelson Mandela's presidency. Curiously, exactly 34 years before was the day Bono Vox, a rock star from the world famous Irish band U2, was born. What’s more intriguing is how those two heroes thinking are so connected. Nelson Mandela was a genuine hero in South Africa who had different thinking and a vision for the change. He fought against a number of social problems in his country like apartheid, poverty, and inequality. Bono Vox, just like Nelson Mandela always had a unique thinking and believed in change. But what makes Bono Vox a true hero? Some people would answer because of the content of some of his lyrics that debates social problems, however he is also a social activist and he has been working to catch the attention of global leaders for big world problems.
Bono’s lyrics often shows his heroic thinking when going beyond the traditional pop and rock themes of the 80s, such as youth and love. Bono would also use his talent to question social problems and controversial topics like war and apartheid. His fame is probably the key factor that makes people listen to his words, eventually opening their eyes to what is happening in the world, questioning if humanity is in the right spot. The song “Pride (In the Name of Love)” by U2, was written as a tribute for Martin Luther King, Jr. His lyrics show his concern about spreading the legacy of Luther King, who fought for freedom and civil rights of African-Americans. “Early morning, April 4 / Shot rings out in the Memphis sky / Free at last, they took your life / They could not take your pride.” His concern about those topics only shows what a true hero he is, using his fame and talent to spread important values and concepts to help people. In “Sunday Bloody Sunday” by U2, Bono criticizes repression and violence that occurred in the Bloody Sunday massacre in Northern Ireland in 1972 in which innocent people were killed by an aggressive army response to a march for civil rights. “And the battles just begun / There’s many lost, but tell me who has won? / The trenches dug within our hearts / And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart.” Bono had a heroic attitude supporting the victims and questioning authorities, maybe even risking his career. He spreads his principles supporting civil rights and questioning any form of violence. It is clear that Bono’s lyrics still reflects actual world problems such as religious conflicts or the civil rights in poor and conservative societies.
Art to bring out change is surely a key skill of a hero (Tollefson, 1993), and Bono clearly made the difference with his work as a social activist. Although many people argue that Bono works as a social activist to increase his popularity, the truth is that he not only invested money but he also devoted a great amount of his time and talent to found and support several ONGs and campaigns to fight for several humanity causes. Celebrities seeking popularity would rather just spend money and have their names in the social projects, but not Bono Vox. He really got involved in those projects because he cares about it and he wants to make sure it reaches its objectives. Campaign One is probably the biggest project Bono participated in, the campaign was created with the union of several smaller campaigns and funded by Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation. The campaign focuses on fighting against extreme poverty and AIDS in Africa. Bono Vox not only supported the institution financially, but he actually co-founded the campaign and heavily advertised it with his band. Bono could be just another typical celebrity, instead he’s different kind of figure. Bono’s work as a social activist reflects how he cares about others and how far we would go to support humanitarian causes. Bono's strong character to keep helping others really mirrors his heroic spirit
Not many celebrities would go as far as Bono Vox went in his pursue for social and humanity causes. In fact, his heroism goes even beyond his lyrics and his work with ONGs. Bono is so dedicated in making changes that he has really drawn attention of the most influential world leaders in order to ask for help in projects related to raising awareness about Africa issues such as racial conflicts and extreme poverty. In the past years Bono has met with influential leaders and presidents of influential nations like the USA, Brazil, Argentina and France. He has debated topics like extreme poverty, racial conflicts, and health issues in Africa. Furthermore, other topics included the importance of the G20 and the need for sharing knowledge between countries. The campaign for Africa social issues resulted in surprisingly optimistic results. Ex-US President George W. Bush raised $5 billion on aid investment for Africa and showed that leading industrialized countries can collaborate solve world problems. Bono clearly matches Polster’s characteristic of heroism about heroes being moved by reverence for humanity. Although Bono may have earned some popularity for his campaign, what he did for humanity was much bigger than that.
Although a lot of people question if Bono Vox as a celebrity can be considered a hero; the fact is that he had already done a lot for the society. If we consider his work with social campaigns, important social themes he address in his lyrics and his efforts to debate world problems with global leaders, It is just clear how he think different and how he would invest his time to make other people’s life better. "Put mankind back on earth” (Bono Vox, 2005). That’s what Bono Vox said responding to the efforts that the USA made in the 60s in the space missions, but he states that now it is time to solve the actual problems we have in society, especially related to extreme poverty and AIDS diseases in Africa. When you think of Bono Vox, one thing is clear. If this rock star is not a hero, there can not be other real life heroes.
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