Bono brings fight against poverty and disease to GR

Rock star Bono, lead singer of the band U2, urged members of the Grand Rapids Economic Club to take direct action against AIDS and poverty in Africa.

According to excerpts from the story:

In an hour-long speech peppered with pleas, preaching and occasional self deprecation, Bono implored the crowd to awaken to the AIDS and poverty crisis in Africa, which he likened to a preventable modern-day Holocaust.

“We are watching people being loaded onto the trains, and we know where they are going,” said Bono, who turns 46 next week. “But the end of the story need not be the same. The people of Africa need not be condemned. We, you, I will not be complicit. … We will not turn away as the trains roll past. We will go down to the tracks, and we will lie across them.”

Read the complete story here.