Today is a very special day and I’m not just saying that. Sixty years ago, Eleonor Roosevelt spearheaded the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into the United Nations Charter. The doc guaranteed the right to freedom from torture, slavery, poverty, homelessness and other forms of oppression for all people. Clearly, these things still exist, and some of my fave artists have teamed up to make that very point.

Today, Nacional Records releases The Price of Silence (get it on iTunes for only $1.99). It’s an EP featuring the aforementioned track, along with a Spanish version and the original Aterciopelados song that inspired the whole thing (“Canción Protesta”). Proceeds will benefit Amnesty International.

It’s a collaborative effort including musicians from all over the world, some of whom have experienced human rights violations themselves and all of whom are activists. Peep the roster:

Stephen Marley (Jamaica)
Natalie Merchant (USA)
Julieta Venegas (Mexico)
Aterciopelados (Colombia)
Chali 2na from Jurassic 5 (USA)
Angelique Kidjo (Benin)
Chiwoniso (Zimbabwe)
Emmanuel Jal (Sudan)
Yungchen Lhamo (Tibet/USA)
Hugh Masekela (South Africa)
Natacha Atlas (UK/Egypt)
Rachid Taha (France/Algeria)
Kiran Ahluwahlia (Canada/India)
Cucu Diamantes and Pedro Martinez of Yerba Buena (USA/Cuba).

As the song says, “We can do better.” So why not start now by buying this song?

-- Angie Romero