Ariana Grande’s One Love Manchester Concert not only raised the morale of so many broken people, but it also raised approximately $9 million (or £7 million) for the victims of the attack before the concert even finished. This money will be used for the “We Love Manchester Emergency Fund and the British Red Cross and it is believed to continue increasing even after the concert ends.
The show, which featured many big artists (including Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Coldplay etc), was done to honour not only the victims from the horrific Manchester attack last week but also the victims of all the unspeakable acts of terror happening all over the world. To show that hate and fear will not divide us instead will only bring us together to create more love.
This concert having such an incredible turnout and great amount of donations further solidified this feeling of hopefulness amidst the hopelessness. It showed how much of a difference we can all make by standing together against hate, against fear and against terrorism. For me and for many others tonight has restored our optimism for better days and a better world and if we continue to act like this in the face of terrorism, by spreading happiness and coming together, the terrorists — and the hatred they bring with them — will never win.
In Conclusion, there’s one person to thank for all this love and togetherness and that’s Ariana; without her bravery and strength (even after having to carry the burden of those disgusting attacks in Manchester) there would’ve never been this much money raised, there would’ve never been closure for the survivors of the attack and there definitely wouldn’t have been this incredible sense of hope and love tonight. And despite your feelings for Ariana or her music, you can’t deny her incredible character and bravery not only tonight but since the Manchester attacks, Ariana channeled her fear into something positive: she visited the survivors at the hospital and gave them gifts and flowers just a day before this powerful concert. Therefore, on behalf of everyone watching the concert tonight, thank you, Ariana, for reminding people that love will always tune out hate and evil will never defeat us; you brought together a community of strangers tonight, you brought together feeling of promise tonight, you ignited a fire of love and hope tonight and I can guarantee that fire will continue burning even after tonight. So thank you.
(Sidenote: If you would like to donate to the cause, here’s a guide to how you can.)
