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" I took a trip in 2004, a year after the war started in Iraq. I played music on the streets of Baghdad for Iraqi civilians. I'd also play for U.S. soldiers at night when they were off duty in the bars. Then I would talk to people, and I would film them and ask them about their life and the conflict. "

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" I don't know if it's so grand that I can change the entire world, but I know that I can help one person. So that's the goal. "

Michael Franti

Help

World

Change

" I went to Iraq because I wanted to see what one year of occupation had done to Iraqi society, and I went to the West Bank and Gaza Strip because I wanted to see what three generations of occupation had done to Palestinian society. I found a lot more hopelessness and despair in Palestine. "

" Sometimes the hardest thing to do is just to stay human. "

" It's a really personal thing for me to write a song. "

" With all the people hating and hurting each other, I don't understand how people could get upset about people of the same sex caring for each other. "

" The rap community has been singled out as more homophobic than other groups, but I don't think that's right. It's homophobic, all right, but no more so than the heavy-metal community or the Hollywood community or any other community. "

Michael Franti

Think

Hollywood

" I came up playing in both punk rock bands and hip-hop bands, and I found a more universal way of reaching people, especially with music that has a message to it. "

" Rap has so many possibilities that need to be explored. There are different factions of rap, but some are in a rut. Rap doesn't have to be about boosting egos and grabbing your crotch and dissing women. There's a way to make political and social issues interesting and entertaining to the young rap audience. "

" If we do not change our negative habits toward climate change, we can count on worldwide disruptions in food production, resulting in mass migration, refugee crises and increased conflict over scarce natural resources like water and farm land. This is a recipe for major security problems. "

" Traveling to the Middle East and playing music for people on the street, for soldiers, for people in hospitals, and for people who lost their homes, and seeing people open up through the experience of music really restored my faith in music, in art, and in culture to change things. "

" I think that fear comes about when there's things in the world that we want to change, things we're scared or angry about, and we can't change them, and so we become fearful; we develop anxiety. "

" In Jamaica, the music is recorded for the sound system, not the iPod. It's about experiencing music together, with other people. "

" Today we are in a war against war - music is our power. "

" Music is sunshine. Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood. Music gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose. "

" There are so many things to be worried about, and I wanted to make a record that people could put on, and it would lift them up the way the sun did for me each day. "

" My parents said sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you. But I always felt a sense of exhilaration after a fight; it was the names that really hurt me. "

" We have a saying in my house, my kids and my girlfriend. We say, 'Be your best for the greater good, and rock out wherever you are.' "

" When I first started out, I thought it was enough to make an angry song that pointed out the problems of the world. "

" My house was filled with music. We had a piano, and my brothers and sisters played instruments. Even though I was around it, I played basketball. "

" I don't know if music can change the world overnight but I know that music can help someone make it through a difficult night. "

" It really is a strange time we're living in, when saying 'Don't kill people' is considered a radical point of view. "

" I have moments all the time when I play. "

" The more places I go to, the more I realize I understand so little about the world. "

" The corporate media is there to push the agenda of the sponsors, and many of those sponsors are weapons manufacturers. So it stands to reason that you won't get a diversity of opinions on television. "

" My music is part of the quest I have to find new ways of telling stories, and also, I want to inspire people. "

" I'm a news junkie who's constantly reading newspapers and magazines. I look around and see what's happening in the world. "

" My usual day is I get up around 11 o'clock and do yoga and then eat afterwards. Then I have sound check and play soccer and do running with the guys in the band after sound check, and then do the show and eat dinner after the show and usually get to bed around 3 o'clock by the time we get everybody on the bus and get rolling. "

" It doesn't matter if you're black, white, gay, straight, come from different countries, different language... every single person is significant and is meaningful. "

" Not all artists have a responsibility to be socially or politically aware, but they do have a responsibility to make great art. They have to find some truth and put that in their music. "

" Every single soul is a poem. "