It's much more glamorous to be on the barricades with your handkerchief over your nose than it is to have a bowler and a briefcase and go to work. But ... that's the way to get the work done. It's uncool. It's incredibly unhip. But it's the way to get it done.

--Bono, of U2

It was a surreal scene: Bono, the lead singer for U2, and Jesse Helms, the ultraconservative Republican senator, chatting like old friends.

Last month, Helms hosted a lunch for the Irish rocker in Washington. The man who dedicated the song "Pride (In the Name of Love)" to Martin Luther King Jr. had kind words to say about the man reviled by liberals around the world as a racist, homophobe, and misogynist. Helms, in turn, gushed about Bono: "You'll never be an outsider. You'll always be a friend here."

The senator and rock star have grown close over the last several months, as Bono has lobbied politicians on debt relief for Third World countries. It's an important issue: Many of today's poorest countries are drowning in debt, unable to invest in their own people because they must spend as much as $200 million per week on interest payments to international lenders.

Bono has found a political ally in Helms, the Republican and former chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations committee who has been criticized as an isolationist. Some liberals are disgusted with Bono for cozying up to an enemy. "I caught a brief snippet of that MTV show 'Making the Video,'" read one posting on a left-leaning listserv. "It was a U2 video, and the 'plot' involved an 'evil Bono' and the real Bono, which left me wondering, Who can tell the difference?'"

Bono's critics say he has ruined his reputation by associating himself with people of conservative politics. It's a complaint often leveled by diehards of any group--liberals or conservatives, Christians or atheists: Talk to those outside our circle, and you're a sellout. But the accusation is plainly hypocritical. For example, why should liberals--normally so concerned about the reform of criminals and so outraged by restrictions on free speech--be disgusted by an attempt at dialogue with someone like Helms or Pope John Paul II?

If anything, Bono should be given credit for talking to people across political lines. King did something similar when he made it his duty to confront racists face-to-face--resolutely but compassionately. King was motivated in his actions by Christian charity--this forgotten idea that all people are human beings and worthy of respect, even racists--but his actions made tactical sense, too. After all, no cause, no matter how right and just it may seem, will ever seize the world's imagination without followers who are willing to do the hard work of engaging people of different, sometimes opposing, beliefs. Demonizing those who disagree does not help the cause--though it is a well-trodden path to holy war and holocaust.

Bono has pursued his mission with surprising diligence. He has learned the arcane particulars of Third World debt inside and out. He squeezes meetings with world leaders into his packed concert schedule, making visits often without his entourage. He belittles his role as a celebrity activist, at the same time that he recognizes that his status can help: "Unless these types of issues become pop, they don't become political," he told USA Today.

Bono could have stayed on the sidelines, made large donations to charity and some high-minded remarks, and won praise for his progressive politics. But he is looking to have a greater impact than that. By working hard at the "unhip" task of lobbying, he has already brought some initially skeptical leaders like Helms to his side. And he is reminding us of an often unappreciated fact in our culture of sound bites and instant gratification: Demonstrations and other public expressions of outrage are important, but so is the more discreet, long-term work of building credibility, establishing alliances, and educating people at all levels.

It is easy to exist among like-minded people, confident in the righteousness of our views. It is much harder to enter the fray and yet hold true to our principles. So, even though it may be a bit absurd to see a rock star fighting for economic equality,

Bono just might be making people's lives better. Why complain?

Victor Tan Chen
Editor, Inthefray.com
New York

Mailbag

Thank you for your article, "The Occidental Asian" (ITF, June 2001). As I was reading it, I kept thinking about all the AAYs friends (or acquaintances) that I want to send the article to. I can't decide how offended they would be, but it would be a great wake-up call. I live in the Bay area in California where thousands of AAYs are located. I myself am working in documentary film, and man, I will just make enough to cover the rent and the bills by the end of the month. The AAYs I know used to be doing well in tech jobs, but now they too are suffering, and suffering at a job that they hate. That makes it all the more clear to me that I am making the right choice in pursuing this career. Plus, I'm happy with my work. I may have to hustle with the jobs, but, if I'm doing stuff that I like, I'm motivated to hustle. May everyone who is doing their dream work forge ahead!

Marcie Aroy
San Francisco
marciearoy@yahoo.com