Act Against Injustice

A Personal letter from Bob Robinson

This is my story - within my story you will see that my life has had its ups and downs. I left school with little in the way of qualifications; I experienced bullying right through school and at times in work because of this I was a shy and introverted young man, with a low self esteem. Over the years I developed as a strong determined person with a lot to offer and share.

I have always suffered from ill health, but this is the pack that I have been dealt, yet my determination has seen me run 7 marathons and many road races at various distances. Before music was ever an integral part of my life; sport was the main interest and in a sense a way of life for me. I have met some wonderful people, especially my friends in Coventry who sometimes give me a deserved ribbing about my travelling exploits and my terrets moment which brought howls of laughter; I will never live that one down as long as I live, but that's a funny episode between me and my friends. You have to be able to laugh at yourself sometimes, as life is too short.

I suppose that I can pinpoint the moment where I first started with music. I was determined to gain a degree; I went to university between 1995-1998 where I achieved my goal with a named degree in Health Studies/Health Promotion B.A.(Hon’s) 2:2. In 1996, I bought my first guitar a Tanglewood Autumn leaf round back guitar in January 1997; this was the start of my musical journey as a hobby.

I never had any musical training, yet this is what I now do professionally and also to compliment the Charity work. I love to perform, I love the response from people and I aim to carry this on for the rest of my life and I am now on the verge of recording two albums at the Basement Project Studio at the Central Methodist Church Burnley, exciting times are ahead with the albums and the charity. http://www.thebasementproject.co.uk/studio.php

I have an album on the AAI download label. AAI stand against the injustices of child sexual grooming; paedophilia and the trafficking of women and children for sex and servitude and i'm amazed and also pleased at the recent level of growth.

There are estimates that human traffickers make $32 billion U.S dollars, which is approximately one fifth of the UK deficit and approximately 2.4 million children are trafficked every year, that is a mountain of cruelty and a lake of hopelessness; yet there is hope because charities, organisations, churches, people of faith, musicians and people of all ages, social class, all walks of life and professions are saying 'enough is enough'. AAI are an educational/ awareness charity; we do not get involved with conducting criminal investigations and prosecutions.

I must acknowledge my very good friend and colleague, John Wearne, I will thank others later, but I must mention John here. Without his expertise, knowledge, passion, drive and networking ability and his friendship AAI would not exist. We have been friends since my running days and our friendship has seen many twists and turns, some sad and some so amusing by both of us.

The links and networks that John has developed and forged are remarkable and in such a small amount of time; I don’t know how you do it John, but you're worth your weight in gold. Without John the AAI music download label would also not exist. We have been in road races together and supported one another and we will be lifelong friends and best of all we have such a good time, having a laugh because you need to have a sense of humour when dealing and working in such emotional draining work. John, thank you for your friendship and support.

One of the best bits of advice that I have ever received was that I should stay true to myself and my beliefs in music, Paul Jones of Manfred Mann told me to be diligent at all times in what I do with regard to music. I met Paul Jones at a local church evening and he said be diligent as the ant. I have also been a warm up act for John Gaughan formally of Herman’s Hermits.

Prior to all of this I used to busk to backing tracks in the mid 1990’s, I started with a nodule on my left vocal cord; if I was to have a career it was almost ruined before it started. I ended up having my singing career saved by Mr. Goode and Mr. Greenwood the ENT Specialists at Burnley General Hospital, UK and the ENT Staff who were involved with my pre and post operative care, also the Speech and Language Therapists and GP’s who have all had a hand in my care and rehabilitation. I want to thank them and I also would like to thank Chris Broughton who was my singing coach who showed me how to use my voice again. My speech therapist thought that I would not be able to talk properly again let alone sing. It has been a long and somewhat painful journey with regard to my voice; it has taken years to build it up to where it is

A part of my music was that I used to be a joint praise and worship leader at a church that I used to attend. When you have the responsibility of this position the realisation is that music can take a congregation on a journey of emotions from being really happy, clappy to the other end of the emotional spectrum where you walk people through to deep contemplation. Music hits the seat of a person’s emotions it can drive people’s moods so the responsibility of a worship leader should not be taken lightly as it has a serious function in the church.

 

I remember clearly the first song that I had written was I wanna say no! It is a song about child abuse and child sexual grooming, maybe God, destiny, call it what you will, 15 years later this is a core cause and passions with the work of Act Against Injustice. I could say that this one song was the catalyst for my passion against injustice, for children and against the victims of traffickers; it is estimated that 80% of children trafficked end up as prostitutes and the remaining 20% end up in domestic servitude. What a sick world we live in with regard to this heinous crime of degradation and depravity.

I wanna say NO!

I see you smile with those tears in your eyes you try to hide the pain inside your heart. Nobody knows the secrets that you keep the secrets killing you but you cannot speak.

Chorus

I wanna say ‘No!’ but you keep on hurting me, I wish I could tell but you’ll hurt me all the more. I wanna say, ‘No to pain no to pain.’ You’re a grown up so you tell me this is love and I know it’s wrong the love you show to me is your sick perverted lust.

You have the scars but they don’t show outside, you have been scared deep[p within your mind, the cruelty shows when you’re inside your home; that man says he loves you but loves not abuse.

That man you fear he buys you all those things, he thinks that he can really buy your love. He’s respectable your family’s friend, but they would turn on him if they only knew.

You breathe on me shivers run down my spine I hate the thought of you lying next to me. Just go away and crawl under a stone I’ve lost my childhood because of you.

© Robert Robinson 1997. AAI

This track will feature on the forthcoming CD Conscience of heart and mind.

I found though my passion had developed right from the beginning with writing about issues concerning and covering social justice and acts of injustice. The acts of two world leaders in my opinion have been done in the name of oppression and aggression rather than justice for the people who they say that they were defending and fighting for. I am of course talking about the Iraq war. I have written several songs on this topic and those songs will be on the album, ‘Conscience of heart and mind.’

I am not against the military, as they have to do what they are told by their employer. I come from a family that has a military history, with this in mind I believe that I see things in perhaps a different way to some of those in the anti-war movement. Therefore, I would like to state that there are times when military intervention is right, BUT, pre-emptive strikes for regime change is in my mind illegal and immoral And with the history of my granddad and a relation, who suffered as a prisoner of war, I personally believe that Mr Bush and Mr Blair have sullied the military and it’s memory, especially those who have fought to keep tyranny at bay from our shores. The actions of those two men have besmirched trust in the eyes of the world so that suspicion could, for genuine humanitarian cause, which this current climate in the Middle East, have created mistrust of the UK and its standing on the world stage.

With our hard fought freedoms of speech where you have those who, with poisonous views, reject and hate our British society and way of life for example were viewed and filmed on our remembrance day, burning the poppy, with this blinkered view and ignorance they cannot see past the hate created by the Iraq war that has been caused by Mr Blair and Mr Bush who took us into Iraq.

People have died and will continue to die and we have to support our troops because they are laying their lives on the ground for the improvement and hopefully democracy will prevail, but I doubt this will happen. I believe a puppet government has been put in place by the political elite so that they who took us to a bloody and violent war can say that they were right to do what they did; yet the reasons for going to war, and the justifications for this war, changed so many times. Our service men and women, who are brave to the core, are also as consequence, being maimed and their lives are changed forever as are the children of Fallujah, where women have been warned not to have babies due to the rise in birth defects since American forces used depleted uranium as a part of it weaponry. There are a high number of children being born in Fallujah with limb, head, heart and problems associated with the central nervous system.

Therefore, what would the generation who fought against Hitler say about the behaviour of Mr Bush and Mr Blair, I personally believe that history puts Mr Bush and Mr Blair in the same light as Mr Hitler and that we are rightly ashamed of our leaders taking our men and women into a post-modern Vietnam along with congress, parliament and all of the other world leaders who allowed Mr Bush and Mr Blair to con their way into Iraq for Oil reserve contracts, etc.

I believe that the music and songs regarding this are Friendly fire. The people’s anthem (Not in my name) and Cowboy George caught the mood of the country, individuals and the world populations protests movements, have all been proven right that there were for example, no WMD and the report regarding the 45 minute strike capability was a fabrication of lies to move parliament to sanction a war.

If the leaders have felt so strongly about tyranny, oppression and aggression against the people, then the leaders should stand with the African nations and the population of white farmers who have been brutalised along with the people of Zimbabwe who opposed its then leader Robert Mugabe, who is sometimes referred to as the African Hitler.

I firmly believe that as musicians we have a media that can, and does, strike a chord right to the hearts and minds even the very foundation of the soul where music resonates with messages of hope, peace, and justice. If by the same measure we are taken into Iran I fear for the future with regard to Americas stand on Iran and that the powder keg that is waiting to be lit via the views of the political elite; we may be in for a time of war in the near future.

Music is a passion; the drive behind the music is the love of performance where I can use my style of music with my songs standing for justice. This mind set cuts through my faith, for me faith and music are an integral part, when you look through our website you will see all of this laid before you. A guide for me is Holy Scripture; I believe that the bible is the inspired word of God. For me a guiding principle whether you believe in the bible as the word of God or not is a sound and emotive call to act against forms of injustice. I cannot separate my faith, beliefs, actions and music, it is a way of life for me, as is my personal relationship as a Christian. I project myself as an individual with a message through the medium of music. I am not though a person who would be classed as a bible basher or a holy Joe. People who know me know that I am not like that for me faith and Christianity is a way of life for me.

As I say I believe the bible, some believe in evolution, some believe in aliens, some believe in various other things that guide their lives, but for me the bible breathes new life and it inspires me to do what I and AAI do.

The guiding principle that AAI go by is Isaiah chapter 1 verse 17, “Learn to do good, Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless’ Plead for the widow. Is this just not one of the best bits of advice that has been passed through the centuries? As Jesus said before His betrayal in Bethany, “Why do you trouble this woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always but Me you do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.” Matthew chapter 26 verses 10 -12. The essence of the sayings of Jesus here as I believe are true, the sentiment of the statement is quite striking and when I match those scriptures together it becomes a driving force for me and AAI and the determination to raise awareness of the suffering in this world today.

I am not a Cliff Richard; I am a unique individual who has passions and causes that are close to my heart and I cannot abide seeing children who are with others victims of gang masters. I have an album available to buy and it is my first album, the album is called, ‘Unto the Lamb.’ It can be bought from the AAI site and proceeds from this go towards helping with the fight against injustice. I have sold music in Bolivia, Australia, America and Europe. It amazes me how the internet has made all of this possible.

We have a site where we can sell music for artists, groups and individuals. Our label is the AAI download label. The inspiration behind this actually led us to the path we are on as a charity. I have seen and heard how musicians have been ripped off so if you want to sell your music with an ethical download label pick AAI.

AAI are involved in the following countries: The United Kingdom, Australia, India, New Zealand, The United States, Canada and we have links in Europe. We became a charity around November 2010 and from then we have been growing at a rate that has gone far beyond our expectations.

As an organisation we have been running the Madeleine prayer circle on the first Sunday of the month of May for the last three years as we approach our fifth international prayer day we would love to break the 250,000-300,000. As you can see my music and faith are inter-twined like a river running through a valley watering many different types of trees. We are currently running an awareness series on the grooming of children and educating parents on the signs to watch for; it’s not just stranger danger that parents have to watch out for, family friends and members of families can and sadly are known to the victims.

It is staggering that this trade of misery comes out of poverty and out of poverty comes the need for improving a families material circumstances and this is the reason where there are cunning and deceptive gangs that know how to spot potential victims. The gangs form fake employment agencies. From this front, victims willingly walk into a life of slavery; we are abolitionists. Sadly slavery exists; slavery has a new name, human trafficking.

We want to get into schools to use the medium of music art and drama so that secondary children can become aware of what sexual grooming is about. For information on this please look within the site..

If I was to say that this happens all over the UK I would not be overstating the problem, it seems that almost every week that there is some news about a paedophile or groomer or trafficking.

You may be asking yourself the question, “So how does music help in the raising of the awareness of this sick, vile and evil stain on society?” We run road shows using music and we have a programme where we will be using musicians to help us raise much needed finances we need approximately £125,000 and this would be an approximate yearly total that is required so that we can employ and pay staff creating job and educational/ training opportunities and get projects with regard to safe houses and the sponsoring of children up and running in our first year. If you would like to help with funding keep a watch for the children that we will be looking to have sponsored through our 1000 smiles. The safe house when that is up and running will provide security, education, meals and a place to live and we have a donation button on our site where donations can be taken. We would like a safe house to house and protect 100 children.

We are also planning to look at setting up an exhibition centre where the community can become involved and that schools, colleges and universities can come to us and learn about the issues surrounding this important and drastic situation, a child only has one chance at being a child, when that is taken away through sexual abuse by a paedophile or gang masters it is too late to turn the clock back; as they say what is done is done. Within the exhibition centre there will be music events and these events will mean that there is a base for the use of music being used to raise issues against injustice towards victims of sex crimes and a folk club venue will be set up. This is where we need to move onto and this will be where jobs and professional training will take place, this is why we need finances.

With regard to where I am at with my music today, I love performing as a busker and I am known as Bob the Busker. Through busking I now play at indoor venues and events. Thank you to those who have invited me into their music families, Andrew Smalley at Rhode Island Coffee House Burnley; Walkabout to many people to mention; Andy Dwyer and Elle have kindly brought me into the folk family in Colne, Bacup, Hebdon Bridge with Craig and there is a developing relationship with my minister Phil at my church where the Basement project recording studio has been offered to me to record my albums. I would also like to thank Martin Lowes for the band night slot on 2Br 99.8FM on January 6^th 2011, mate that was just the best and there may be festivals in the coming year.

We have a Facebook group I would love you to join us to keep up with what we are doing for example I will be cycling from John O'Groats to Lands End sometime in 2012 and I want to raise the finance to keep us running and use the money to bring in resources that can make money to enable us to do even more as we are a charity what is made has to be used. I must also mention and thank Hazel Burd for getting us through the process of becoming a charity. Thank you for everything you have done for us here.

I also have music available at the following links:

http://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/singer1963

www.reverbnation.com/robertrobinson

http://www.myspace.com/robertrobinsonandguitar

http://www.myspace.com/559508663

 

Everything that is and has been done is on a voluntary basis and we need to be full-time with a salary, we are not seeking a massive salary all we are seeking is a fair amount that is a living wage to run AAI. If we are able to do this we will be able to be more effective with the development of more safe houses, child sponsoring and conferences. With regard to conferences we have been asked to run a conference in New York, this is exciting and it shows that we have arrived on the global map with the knowledge and educational resources that we run.

Finally, thank you for taking time in reading about me, the cause, and my music that is underpinned by my Christian faith. My faith is real to me and it is my faith that drives me to seek justice for those who need charities and groups like AAI to plead their cause.

Bob Robinson

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(Please note that this is a personal letter from Robert Robinson expressing personal opinions and that the views held may not be representative of AAI as a whole).