Why One Love Manchester Will Go Down in History
Every passing day, the world seems to be reaching new limits. Be it a Guinness Record or our worsening pollution levels, our current population is a determined bunch who stop at nothing when it comes to achieving heights unknown of to mankind.
A boundary as such was stretched at Manchester Arena on the 22nd of May 2017, when a suicide bomber detonated a home-made bomb. Twenty two lives were lost and 116 people were left injured. This, very sadly, was a deliberate attempt to target the youth at a place brimming with passion and peace; a concert. One of the very few places on this Earth where we have the freedom to safely get lost in something much bigger than ourselves; music. Leave your troubles at the gates of a concert, they say, and by the time you must pick them up again, you’ll find that they hurt less after a dosage of good live music.
This desperate effort to tear apart the most innocent form of love, the shared love of music, has left the deepest mark for future generations to follow; one that has shined light on the power of unity, compassion and strength.
A pillar of hope
Following the attack, Ariana Grande arranged for a concert to be held at the Old Trafford Cricket ground on June 4 to honor and raise funds for the victims and their families. Artists including Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Niall Horan, Liam Gallagher, Imogen Heap and Coldplay played the venue on this historic day. Various other well-known celebrities such as Demi Lovato, Paul McCartney and the Chainsmokers also made video appearances to show their support.
Between all this, however, indubitably, the most beautiful aspect of this eminent concert was that, amidst over 50,000 people, there was not a single trace of fear. Instead, an overflow of pure love engulfed the grounds, indulging everybody, from little children to grown adults, in it.
To the people of Manchester, I applaud you. The world applauds you. By showing up at One Love Manchester after a tragedy as gruesome as such, you not only honored your children, but caught evil straight by the collar, looked them in the eye and screamed,
“Love ALWAYS wins.”
It takes brave, brave hearts to do what you did; to stand so strongly while the world is falling apart around you.
Thank you for showing the world what unity looks like. In times like these, without each other, we are nothing. Thank you for teaching the world that evil will never prevail. Right when it was starting to look like there’s not a drop of hope left in the world, you’ve risen whilst carrying the rest of us on your shoulders. The love of music has proven to be so strong that fear is belittled in the face of it. The 4th of June will forever be remembered as the day we fought back. And for that we thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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