Emmylou Harris Using Fall Tour to Raise Awareness for Refugees
Emmylou Harris is joining forces with Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller and the Milk Carton Kids to help shed light on the world refugee crisis with a newly announced fall tour.
Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees will be hosted by Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) to benefit their Global Education Initiative. JRS hopes to double the number of refugees that are currently in their educational programs, to 240,000, by 2020.
“After witnessing firsthand the work of JRS in Ethiopia this past June, I have never been more inspired to champion such a critical cause,” Harris says in a press release. “The better angels of our nature call upon us to act with compassion and not with fear in the face of so much suffering.”
JRS currently works in over 45 countries to serve the world's refugee population of more than 65 million by meeting needs in education, health and other areas.
“Education is the one life-saving intervention given to a refugee that cannot be taken away,” says JRS International Director Fr. Thomas H. Smolich S.J. Adds Fr. Timothy P. Kesicki S.J., president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, “We are ready to bring this critical issue to the stage and help people understand that education provides a path forward in life for refugees. Most people don’t realize that refugees spend an average of 17 years displaced from their homes, and many never return. It’s time to take bold action, and our Lampedusa concert tour will help us do so.”
Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees is named for the Italian island of Lampedusa, off the coast of Sicily, which serves as a stopping point for many refugees. A complete list of the trek's 11 stops -- which begin on Oct. 6 in Boulder, Colo., and runs through Oct. 21 -- is below; more information can be found at JRSUSA.org.
Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees 2016 Tour Dates:
Oct. 6 — Boulder, Colo. @ Boulder Theater
Oct. 8 — Kansas City, Mo. @ Helzberg Hall
Oct. 9 — Lincoln, Neb. @ Rococo Theater
Oct. 11 — St. Louis, Mo. @ Sheldon Concert Hall
Oct. 12 — Milwaukee, Wisc. @ Pabst Theater
Oct. 13 — Chicago, Ill. @ Vic Theater
Oct. 14 — Toronto, Ontario, Canada @ Massey Hall
Oct. 16 — Boston, Mass. @ Berklee Performance Center
Oct. 18 — New York City, N.Y. @ Town Hall
Oct. 19 — Philadelphia, Pa. @ Merriam Theater
Oct. 21 — Washington, D.C. @ Lisner Auditorium
More of 2016's Country Tours