Earlier this year, Netflix released a much-heralded documentary “We Are The World — The Greatest Night in Pop.” It was about the creation of that landmark song (“We Are The World”) by numerous pop stars in 1985. The money raised from the sale of that song and related merchandise went to a charity called USA For Africa, aimed at fighting starvation there.
However, the documentary failed to describe another event that occurred the following year, this one expecting to add between $50 and $100 million more to the charity’s coffers and designed to fight hunger in America. It was called “Hands Across America.”
“Hands Across America” occurred on May 25, 1986, exactly 34 years to the day before George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis. Although the latter event mobilized many Americans to protest the mistreatment of Black people at the hands of police, in today’s political climate, I doubt that the former event could be recreated, despite the continuing hunger that exists.
People are also reading…
The plan called for an unbroken line of people to hold hands across the contiguous USA at noon on the Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend. Radio stations across the country would play “We Are The World” as well as “America The Beautiful” and the National Anthem while participants stood, so people were asked to bring their radios or boomboxes to the line.
Additionally, participants were asked to contribute $10 to stand in line. But no one was turned away if they wanted to join without paying.
Major companies like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and over 600 others were sponsors, while religious leaders, politicians, sports figures, and celebrities of every ilk participated. President Ronald Reagan and his family stood in line at the White House, while future president Bill Clinton and his family joined in front of the Arkansas State House.
In our area, St. Louis County, police put up barricades and blocked major intersections about fifteen minutes before noon.
I was 35 at the time; my mom was 70, and her sisters 73, and 76. Despite the heat, we headed up to the corner of our block and held hands with whomever was next to us.
There was a line of people as far as I could see along Hanley Boulevard. People along Delmar Boulevard, blocked from crossing Hanley, got out of their cars and held hands with the drivers behind them. Boomboxes and car radios were all blasting when “We Are The World” started to play.
St. Louis Mayor Vince Schoemehl and other Missouri celebrities were in line under the Gateway Arch. When the line headed down Beale Street in Memphis, people held onto the statue of Elvis’s feet so he could be part of the event. In the West, the line ran through numerous Native American reservations where some people dressed in traditional garb. Even a contingent of homeless people on Skid Row in Los Angeles joined hands with the Hollywood glitterati.
Logistically the plan was untenable because there were too many remote parts of the country with scattered populations and/or desert areas where it was too hot for people to gather.
Still, it’s estimated that over 5 million people participated.
Folks who had registered for the event were dispatched to fill in where there were gaps in the line. Animals were part of the chain at Sea World Ohio, while helicopters filled in from each end of the borders of California and Arizona to symbolically connect the states at a point where organizers canceled the route due to extreme heat.
Watching the news coverage after the fact brought a sense of pride, knowing we’d been part of a bigger cause.
The event raised less than a fourth of its target, and later there were many questions regarding administrative costs. But the idea that the entire country could be unified for a common goal, something so important as fighting hunger in America, seems totally unfeasible today.
Can you imagine the warring members of Congress holding hands on the lawn of the Capitol? I can’t.
We have arrived at a point in our country where we have devolved into tribalism, in part because of a self-aggrandizing and vindictive former commander-in-chief. It’s terrifying to watch how the sycophants follow former President Donald Trump regardless of his attempts to flout the rule of law.
If the original settlers of this country had been as cowardly as the current cadre of Republicans who refuse to stand up to their chief, we would never have had a country at all. Instead, we might still be kissing the diamond-encrusted buckles on King George’s shoes.
Even without a national event, let’s all of us who can, give to our local food banks — regularly and often. Millions of people are hungry in America.