I proudly admit that the Third World Group left an indelible mark on me. Forgive me if this might be the third time that I’ve mentioned this group in one of my articles, but it was truly special. We were all young, in our late teens or early twenties, full of enthusiasm and ideals, yet very realistic and down-to-earth. We were both rebels and young prophets. We spoke up against injustice, took a stand and stayed close to the poor. We were the voice of the voiceless because we had heard the “cry of the poor”.
Most of us were university students, with only a few already working. Despite this, we financed all our activities for the poor with our own pocket money. When funds were low, we begged from our families, went to parishes for donations, raised funds, and sometimes sold items. One day we came up with the idea of selling music cassettes with songs that imparted a social message written and composed between 1969 and 1982. The following are some of the songs which were included in the cassette.
Give Peace a Chance
In July 1969, John Lennon wrote the anti-war song Give Peace a Chance. This period followed the worldwide protests of 1968, which were characterized by anti-war sentiment, civil rights movements, youth counterculture, and rebellions against state militaries and bureaucracies. In the United States, the Tet Offensive sparked protests in opposition to the Vietnam War. In Europe, particularly in France, far-left students led civil unrest against capitalism, consumerism, American imperialism and traditional institutions. April 4 saw the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Give Peace a Chance quickly became an anthem of the American anti-war movement during the 1970s.
Br Carmel Duca MC
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