[Photos] Thousands Attend D.C.’s Global Citizen Earth Day Concert

The Global Citizen Earth Day concert—held Saturday, April 18 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.—featured sets from No Doubt, Fall Out Boy, Train, Usher, Mary J. Blige and My Morning Jacket…and a lot of talk.

Each musical guest played an energy-packed 20-30 minute set, but the music itself seemed to be peppered between hour-long blocks of speeches.

The issues addressed at Global Citizen Earth Day were as diverse as the musical acts and speakers: climate justice, food security, education and gender equality, just to name a few. For instance, Belgium’s Vice-prime Minister and Minister for Development Cooperation, Digitization, Telecommunications and Postal Services Alexander de Croo announced that the Belgian government would commit €36 million (around $38.5 million) to the Global Partnership for Education to ensure that all children receive a quality primary school education.

DSC01769 (1024x768) (600x450) (left to right) NASA administrator Charlie Bolden and will.i.am speak to the crowd during the event. Global Citizen Earth Day was hosted jointly by will.i.am and Soledad O’Brien.

Noticeably absent from the festivities were concrete commitments from the United States that mirrored those of our foreign partners. Congressional inaction was never more painfully obvious than when the audience had to watch yet another video of members of Congress saying how much they cared about issues of climate change and global poverty, but all they could do was introduce legislation that would maybe make it through one chamber this session.

But American change agents did have a role to play. Holding the concert in Washington, D.C. carried a lot of symbolic weight. The stage itself was powered by solar panels, reducing the overall carbon footprint of the event. USAID announced at the concert that they would commit $126 million to strengthen public health systems in West Africa to help stem the Ebola crisis and prevent another one from happening.

Concert-goers also tried to do their part to make sure the day’s event was more than just talk (and there was a lot of talk). Volunteers handed out water bottles made from recycled plastic to parched fans close to the stage. Separate bins were set up for trash and recycling; and in the immediate vicinity of the stage, volunteers did a surprisingly good job of keeping the bins from overflowing with litter—not an easy feat when surrounded by tens of thousands of people!

A view of the trash and recycling facilities at the concert. This concert was run partially on solar power, and featured social issues including global climate change and human rights.

Check out some photos from the concert. This concert was a great first step to raise awareness of efforts to combat climate change and poverty for many people, but we can’t stop now—as we know, there’s so much more work still to be done.

Train performs during the afternoon.
Mary J. Blige during her set.
Fall Out Boy lead singer Patrick Stump sings during the band’s set last Saturday at the Global Citizen Earth Day concert.
A large crowd gathered on the National Mall during the daylong festivities, which began around 11 a.m. Saturday.
The crowd, with the Washington Monument in the background. Attendees stood on the National Mall during performances.

 


Photos: Stephanie Levy, for Groundswell.


Stephanie Levy is a writer, editor, and web producer living in the D.C. area. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, she has covered everything from education policy to dumpster-diving for beer (seriously). If you’re a fan of feminism, online sarcasm, and/or the St. Louis Cardinals, check out Stephanie’s website, and follow her on Twitter: @stephanie_levy.