VOICES FOR THE AMAZON
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How Organizations Find Solidarity To Make Change And Meet Urgent Needs

Protecting the ProtectorsRight now, our world desperately needs solidarity and systemic change. From the streets of cities in the U.S and around the world, to the depths of the Amazon Rainforest, awareness is growing of the deadly consequences of unheard voices. 

Destruction of the Amazon rainforest and killing of its forest guardians is racism, as is the failure to protect indigenous people from the devastating effects of COVID-19. The murder of American black people by police is racism. This is an interconnected fight – for justice, peace, equity, and respect – for all people and for nature. 

In solidarity with the forest defenders in the Amazon who are under threat of ethnocide by COVID-19, Amazon Aid Foundation joined a network of concerned global citizens and international organizations to launch the Amazon Emergency Fund. The Amazon Emergency Fund supports rapid response grants for urgent and immediate prevention and care; provides food and medical supplies; emergency communications and evacuation for indigeous communities impacted by the pandemic.

Along with Amazon Watch, Amazon Aid Foundation recently co-produced a livestream event Artists United For Amazonia, an event to protect the protectors of the Amazon and to raise money for the Amazon Emergency Fund. The event, which had its first livestream on World Environment Day, enlisted an incredible line-up of over 70 participants including indigeous leaders and artists, scientists, performing artists and celebrities. 

The World Premiere of the new and updated version of Artists United For Amazonia will be screened on June 26th in honor of the United Nations Environment Program’s International Day of Tropical Forests. Join Barbra Streisand, Sting, Jane Fonda, Carlos Santana, Dave Matthews, Morgan Freeman, Jane Goodall, Jeff Bridges, Peter Gabriel, and Herbie Hancock along with Amazonia scientists and indigenous peoples for a one of a kind event which will be livestreamed on Amazon Aid’s website. 

To date, the Amazon Emergency Fund, has raised $300,000, of which $200,000 has already been granted to frontline communities to provide relief from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic’s unequal toll on communities of color, who are sounding the call for urgent change and justice, is a result of systemic racism. We must listen, learn, and act.