There comes a time
When we head a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it’s time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can’t go on
Pretneding day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of
God’s great big family
And the truth, you know love is all we need
[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day
Just you and me
Send them your heart
So they’ll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand
[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day
Just you and me
When you’re down and out
There seems no hope at all
But if you just believe
There’s no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well, let us realize
That a change will only come
When we stand together as one
[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day
Just you and me
In every case of horrific child abuse there are always questions left unanswered and unresolved. This is the case of a ten year old child who suffered tremendous abuse by those that were suppose to shelter her and protect her from the rigors of the treacherous and harm. Charlenni Ferreira was a fifth grader whom should have been looking forward to what the future held for her. Instead at the tender age of ten years old suffered the fate of child abuse by those that were suppose to love and protect her. Charlenni’s abuse went on without any intervention from adults. Neighbors acknowledged she walked with a limp and she had a swollen face, yet felt there were no signs of child abuse. Helloooooooooo this alone should have caused an adult to perhaps go to the police and have them investigate if there was not something seriously wrong going on with the child.
This Article is written and owned by: Arnelle Aris Durocher
Charlenni died from an infection caused by untreated broken ribs. Her left lung had collapsed and she was found unconscious at her home where she was tortured for years. Charlenni’s abuse was so severe that it took the coroner more then a half hour to chronicle a report of his findings. She had several other injuries that were tortuous and signs of sexual abuse. Other significant injuries proved that the child had a gash on her head that was seven inches long and four inches wide. That injury had been stuffed with cotton and concealed under a hair weave. Here left lung had fluid around it and would have caused her pain every time she breathed. Imagine we breath at a normal respiratory rate somewhere around 8-14 breaths per minute, and this child was in pain for thousands of minutes per day. Cherlenni also suffered from a broken hip, broken fingers and ripped tissue near her private parts/pelvic area.Yet only one school nurse thought to try and intervene, the girls Dr didn’t think she was being abuse and alleges that the child told him that she was treated like a princess. In fact case/welfare workers were so hoodwinked and convinced that the parents were treating Charleeni like gold, that they advised the parents that if the school nurse continued to lodge complaints against them, to contact a legal aid agencey. I love it when the abusers are so advised and protected by the very system that was suppose to protect Charleeni. Other adults in Cherlenni’s life , or whom saw this child such as other family members, school authorities, friends and neighbors never thought to intervene, only one nurse knew that this child was suffering. The school nurse did her job and was put down for trying to not only do her job by reporting several times on the abuse but trying to save the child’s life. Neighbors in fact didn’t think that there was any signs of child abuse. Really a child constantly limping, walking funny and with a swollen face did not cause some suspicion from anybody other then the school nurse. A child that would have shown she was in pain when she was breathing didn’t cause rise for an adult to do the right thing by the child including the child’s Dr.
I have often wondered if we are so desensitized by the daily event that we see in life that it has caused the conscious of humans to ignore the obvious, to think it is not their business to perhaps save a life of a child. We seem to be able to poke our noses in the life of stars, we cluck, gossip, point fingers, make assumptions ( whether true or untrue) about those people that are entertainers and always in the limelight. We all tend to say the right things if the subject of child abuse comes up, but when it comes down to it, most humans are not prepared to go the extra mile for the sake of the precious life of a child.
It is disgusting and sickening that as adults we think so little of the reality of child abuse. I see so many venues for the rights of animals and animal abuse, yet the same people don’t give a fleeting thought on the rights of a child. While I don’t think an animal should be abuse, after all they have the same feelings and experience the same pain we do. I also don’t think that a child’s abuse should go unnoticed, unresolved and uncared for. We simply reject that child abuse is a grave problem and we go on being blissfully ignorant when we should be well versed and ready to do the right thing!
Where are our minds in today’s society and communities? Where is our human greatness and courage to stand up against child abuse. In past eras and this era we as humans have lost something, we have lost our willingness to stand up against issues like child abuse. Politicians that we elect do very little in my opinion. Must the elected officials wait until there is such an extreme case of child abuse before they will take undeniable affirmative no nonsense action? What will it take to get people to start being outraged? What are we as humans are waiting for? How much abuse is too much? In my thought one case of abuse is one to many, one child dying is representative to all other children that have died though the sickening veil of child abuse that we the adults in this society and whom elect our politicians in continue to ignore day in and day out.
Charlenni’s death may have been preventable had other adults that mattered taken the time to care and review the school nurse’s report and complaints she lodged. I would rather be wrong in my suspicions and report it to the authorities then right and permit a child to die at the hands of tortuous abuse. The school pleaded, pounded and tried to get DHS to listen and yet DHS failed another child and the one adult that tried to save her. Wake up adults and take some action, things need to change and child abuse is something that should not be ignored any longer. Laws seem to be only brought in after the death of a child. Simply it is not good enough! In my opinion countries need to assign special task forces to really put together a report on how grievous child abuse is then sound laws should be legislated and brought into law. The bottom line if you abuse a child where they have collapsed, lungs, broken bones, swollen faces and sexually abuse, then you have revoked your right to have the freedom of life and you should be behind bars and quite frankly in accordance to some of the abuses that are leveled on little children that cannot fight back, the death penalty is suitable in many cases, in my opinion.
In ending, on October 22, 2009 the short life of Charlenni Ferreira ended by the hands of child abuse. Charlenni never had the opportunity to experience a care free life that every child should experience. She was abused and tortured sexually, physically and emotionally without a single intervention from just one adult and only the one school nurse that tried to do something and was shot down by DHS. One person caring and investigating the nurse’s allegations would have made all the difference in the world to this child and may have spared her life.
Finally I will leave you with the thought of his quote “To the world you may be one person, but to one person child you may be the world”.
This is the one video I found on Charleeni’s Story. While I love the message that warrior for kids is sending out to us about child abuse and Charleeni’s plight. I disagree with the fact that despite all the efforts of adults, when there was in reality only one adult that tried to do something and intervene and that was the school nurse, evidence and even the court contends that failure applies to many adults professional and non professional that had the opportunity to help Charleeni and failed to do so or even act on the complaints lodged by the school nurse. Still the message is clear from this lady, and she is right we must do more to stop child abuse, we need to talk about it and act on it!
On October 26, 2009 the father of the child Domingo Ferreira ironically was found dead in his jail cell. The torture and abuse he leveled on his child when he was suppose to protect her, yet this big brutish man could not face a courtroom of his peers when he and his wife were charged with his daughters Cherlenni’s murder and endangering the life of a child. Margarita Garabito felt she did what she could for the child which included that she admitted to beating Charlenni with a metal broom handle on several occasions. Her defense plea is she did nothing to kill her. Excuse me!! beating a child on several occasions is doing nothing to kill her? Is this the defense? Right! Beating a child on several occasions with an object that can be considered a weapon is slowly killing the soul of the child if not the child’s willingness to live. The stepmother lays full blame on the coward whom hung himself in his jail cell Domingo Ferrira, he was the one that killed her. They are both responsible, if Margarita Garabito thinks that standing by and watching a child being sexually abused and beaten at the hands of a man that was 2000 times bigger then this child, and that her own abuse leveled on the child is doing what she could, and that she herself was a victim, that is total BS and she deserves life in prison without the possibility of parole. She did absolutely nothing to prevent the child from being harmed and in fact added to the abuse. She not only stood by she didn’t do anything to spare the child this living hell ( as quoted by the judge presiding over the case). Margarita Garbito could have taken the child to the nearest police station, and made a report, in fact she could have phoned the police and have them remove Domingo Ferrira from the house. I am wondering if Margarita Garbito felt she was helping the child out by stuffing cotton in her gaping head injury and giving her a weave on top of that to conceal the injury. She not only failed the child, she herself beat the child. Who the hell does she and her defense attorneys think they are kidding here.
“She has to be an angel because her life on earth was pure hell,” “Basically, a lot of people failed this kid — family, doctors, any agencies that were involved.”
~Judge Patrick Dugan~
Oddly there was only one picture that I could find of Cherlenni unlike other child abuse victims. I had the thought that missing of many pictures were as the child lived in her short time on earth. A life of missing and alone. Cherlenni missed out on her childhood, had to handle and go through every torture imaginable and was indeed alone in this world. Only one picture is found on this internet of Charlenni and no you tube video as memory or tribute. Cherlenni after all and in reality had no life to capture on video or in pictures. I took it upon myself to try to capture her as her soul lives now in peace and surrounded by love. May the God/dess bless little Charlenni and may she forever and eternally rest in peace among the stars and the angels.
Important Petition to sign against Child Abuse. Please click on this link if you are interested in signing. Thanks
Read my article on victim Tim McLean’s Murder Trial Verdict
Read My Article On Michael Jackson- Michael Jackson Takes His Final Bow
The scene inside Henson Recording Studios Monday evening was eerily familiar and altogether altered. Quincy Jones in headphones raised a victorious fist before conducting a fresh take of We Are the World before a celebrity choir. Déjà vu.
But this was a fresh slate of singers. Not a single returnee stood among the 80-plus celebrities linking voices on We Are the World: 25 for Haiti, an updated twist on the classic that raised $63 million for African famine relief efforts.
Lionel Richie, who co-wrote the original, envisioned a new generation for the remake benefiting Haiti earthquake victims, said Randy Phillips, president/CEO of AEG Live. “He didn’t want to do the same thing again. That would have been an easier way to book this thing.”
The lyrics have been tweaked by Richie, and will.i.am wrote a rap “Greek chorus” extension. Producer RedOne gave the music a rhythmic face lift, and Wyclef Jean will apply a Haitian lilt to the track.
Turnout was stupendous, with stars ranging from Pink, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Hudson to Zac Brown, LL Cool J and Carlos Santana. Some invitations were rejected by those unwilling to readdress an iconic tune, Phillips said. Others, like Taylor Swift, couldn’t untangle scheduling conflicts. A few, such as Janet Jackson, will be added remotely. And a handful simply declined.
“The stars who turned us down will regret not doing it,” he said.
Despite a total cast turnover, Nancy Wilson of Heart saw a strong parallel to the 1985 lineup.
“I just remember thinking, ‘What an odd collection of unlikely people that somehow managed to be cool together anyway,’ ” she said. “That’s how it felt tonight.”
Those in attendance reveled in the party atmosphere. “It’s a good vibe going on,” Idol judge Randy Jackson reported.
Behind the scenes:
•Babs nails it: In a side studio, infamous perfectionist Barbra Streisand struggled to get the proper emphasis and cadence as she taped her solo lines over and over. “Are you getting the right sound?” she asked the engineer. “It’s faster than the original, isn’t it?”
Patti Austin stepped in to coach her, singing along at one point, then exulting, “That’s smokin’! Do it just like that!”
•Somebody to lean on: Her feet aching during the marathon session, Melanie Fiona leaned against Musiq Soulchild at one point, triggering a musical detour.
“I said, ‘This is We Are the World, not Lean on Me,’ and then Celine Dion just started going in (singing Lean on Me),” Soulchild said. “Everybody started chiming in. It was very organic. I started an avalanche. People were gracious enough to let us go. We’re artists, we’re creative people. We need to let it out. I apologize if it was inappropriate. My bad.”
•Newbies: Among the younger singers were Ethan Bortnick, the 9-year-old composer/pianist, and Season 6 American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, 20.
“I wasn’t born yet, but the song has had a huge impact on me,” Sparks said. “They’ve changed it up a little bit, so it’s a new version with a little more — I hate this word — but swag.”
She felt a little lost in the sea of longtime music pals. “There’s a lot of inside jokes, and I’m like, I don’t get it.”
Justin Bieber, 15, was a little anxious, not about reprising the opening verse, but about his proximity to Nicole Scherzinger. “It was hard to take my eyes off her, she’s so gorgeous.”
•No bad raps:Brandy was surprised to see so many rappers in the crowd and found Snoop Dogg’s presence “hilarious,” but not because he can’t carry a tune. “To hear him sing in key and with vibrato is pretty cool,” she said.
•Weezy’s reminder: Lil Wayne was surprised to find himself in such an illustrious crowd of fine singers. “I’ve never been involved in something like this,” he said. “I feel blessed (but) I was like, what am I doing? My mother just wanted me to take Gladys Knight’s picture.”
His parting shot: “It’s amazing what’s been done for Haiti, but it’s also amazing what hasn’t been done for New Orleans (since Hurricane Katrina).”
•Happy campers: “It feels like the first day at camp,” said Josh Groban, who was in no rush to go home. “I don’t have a softball game to run to like the Jonas Brothers. The 10-minute breaks become, ‘So what are you working on?’ So many of us are fans of the people around us. It’s a party in there.”
He exchanged phone numbers with Zac Brown. For his solo, Groban did Kenny Rogers’ original harmony part “with some riff at the end, the token classical note.”
Giddiness aside, the singers were nervous, he said. “We were all cognizant of the fact that the original had such a powerful impact.”
•New and improved: Co-producer Wyclef Jean understands that purists don’t want the original World retooled. “When you have a classic, you don’t want to touch it,” he says. But he promises his contemporized take will be “a big version” and a boon for his native Haiti.
He’s also delighted to be at the hub of such a stellar cast.
“I feel like a kid in a candy store,” he says. “The first time I heard (Richie’s) All Night Long, I was 15, working at a Burger King (and) barely spoke English.”
•It’s no joke: Did actor Vince Vaughn think it was a prank when Jones summoned him for the chorus?
“Nope!” he says emphatically, declining to share a taste of his vocal skills. “You don’t want the pink little spoon. You want the whole sundae. You’re going to have to wait for it.”
Turning serious, he said he was grateful to be included in a project with such strong potential for good.
“Music is the highest art form,” he said. “Music can take you the farthest, the fastest emotionally. All songs on some level are prayers. To come and say a prayer with all these very talented people tonight was a great thing to do.”
•Akon’s tale: Thanks to his ties to Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, Akon heard loads of stories about the original World recording sessions. “I never felt that I’d be in a position to be remaking it and actually be able to tell my own story someday.”
•Egos? Checked: Anthony Hamilton was impressed by the camaraderie. “I was blown away,” he said. “We all turned into groupies. Even Tony Bennett probably had a handheld (camera), just like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s Lil Wayne.’ Everybody’s egos were at coat check. It was clean energy.”
He reported only one kink in the love fest: “I think Jamie Foxx stole my wallet.”
•Going green: A few figures clad head-to-toe in green were planted amid the celebrities so that, through green-screen technology, fans later will be able to insert themselves into the video online.
•A family affair: Richie’s daughter Nicole, who was in the chorus, brought 2-year-old daughter Harlow, cradled by dad Joel Madden of Good Charlotte. Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden, Joel’s twin brother, also participated. Nicole was 3 when she was in the studio with her dad during the original recording.
•The bottom line: The joyous nature of the event did not undercut the serious mission. “People are having a great time singing that song even though it is a tragedy,” Dion said. “We are feeling every word of it. We will make a difference. We’re enjoying ourselves because we want to change what’s going on. People are very touched to be there.”
Much Love from Hollywood MJ fans on the eve of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Show 2010 –sent with Love and Aroha from The City of Angels worldwide from Horiwood and Dale The Nati as we remembered a gifted artist who once fed Africa. Collectively We Are The World still.
The Grammys Party in The Haus of Horiwood is fun tonight.
[By the way... Waiata = Song in Te Reo Rangatira, the Maori language utilized in the film Avatar by James Cameron's cast, from beautiful green New Zealand.]
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood California USA. 1.31.2010~
As time has passed, mid-’90s Toy Machinist Satva Leung has found, as you already knew, a few different outlets for his creativity than just nollie backslide flipping through grannies’ ankles at Union Square. He is/was a DJ, the mastermind of the Streets videos series and has been doing a million other things since, thank you very much.
First and foremost, he’s now the senior video producer at MediaMobz. Also, he just produced, shot, and edited the Students Saving The Ocean documentary film, produces video content on DJS, events, and some skate stuff for Vimby -type his name in the search engine and it shall be revealed. Amongst all this, he still lives life with his wife Karine and tears Golden Gate Park apart on the weekends on his skateboard.
So how did such a busy dude find time to put together the list of his five tunes in a skateboard video for A Visual Sound? No idea. But hey, I’m not complaining.
*****
Sir Lady Java: My Mom Said
As used on Ron Allen’s part in A Soldier’s Story (Life, 1990) “The Life video, a timeless classic. I really liked the way this song came on in the video, it is kinda of a slow song but it was real powerful and surreal song. Props to Ron Allen!”
Broun Fellinis (**)
as used in Ride On (Real, 1995) “I had just moved to SF about a year before this video came out and it was all about slashing up the avenues as we lived in the Sunset. The way the video starts with the Huf blazing down the avenues with the Brown Fellinis horn solos matching every ollie, it definitely captured the SF just roll out your door and hit the avenues.” See it here
Casual : Lose in the End As used on Mike Carroll’s part in Virtual Reality (Plan B, 1993)
“I used skate while listening to this song in my walkman all the time at EMB in hopes of some day being able to be as good as MC. Great song though and I still play this song when I DJ out at spots if there are some backpackers in the crowd.” See it here
Michael Jackson : I Want You Back
As used on Guy mariano’s part in Video Days (Blind, 1991) “I am sure there are tons of skaters that have picked this song but it is the truth, it was one of the most influential parts of all time and the song fit the part perfectly.” See it here (*)
De La Soul : Eye Know
As used on Daewon Song’s part in New World Order (World Industries, 1993) “Daewon Song part was amazing in this video and usually is in all his video parts. The way it starts out with him killing Burl Banks and how the song starts, magical. I remember watching this video and we thought it was sped up as Daewon skates so fast.” See it here (*)
(*) : … And I mean just “see” . No more soundtrack. Thanks WMG ! Really making the world a more musical place.
(**) Game show alert ! Whoever guesses first the title of the Broun Fellini song wins a Ron Allen CD -the one that features the Sir Lady Java tune right above ! How convenient. Now to the “Comments” section…
