June 26, 2019

Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour Sold His Guitars for $21.5 Million—And Donated Everything to Fight Climate Change

At least he’s not selling them to build a wall.

David Gilmour with his granddaughterCourtesy Polly Samson

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Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, stirred by the message of 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, wanted to do something to improve the world.

But what could he do?

Last week, Gilmour auctioned off his guitars, including the black Fender Stratocaster that helped create Dark Side of the Moon and Shine On You Crazy Diamond. He said goodbye to the 12-string Martin behind Wish You Were Here. In all, he raised $21.5 million—that’s right, $21.5 million.

He gave the proceeds from the most valuable auction of musical instruments in history to a nonprofit that fights climate change.

“The global climate crisis is the greatest challenge that humanity will ever face,” Gilmour tweeted. “We need a civilised world that goes on for all our grandchildren and beyond in which these guitars can be played and songs can be sung.” And then, in a video, he strummed a placid instrumental.

Gilmour donated to a charity called ClientEarth, which takes legal steps to combat climate change.

His grand gesture, applauded worldwide, may have a broader impact, persuading others to swap their mementos for cash to help solve our climate emergency. Readers, what ideas do you have for those of us who don’t have $21.5 million in guitars to help fight climate change? Email me at recharge@motherjones.com. Each of us has something to offer, writes psychologist and Maitripa College professor Dan Rubin.

Here are more Recharge stories to get you through the week:

  • Conscientious Cracker Barrel. A Tennessee restaurant turned away the police detective who had called for executions of LBGTQ people when he tried to schedule a church meeting there. The Cracker Barrel shut down the detective and his evangelical group’s event plan, citing its zero-tolerance policy for hate. “We serve everyone who walks through our doors with genuine hospitality, not hate, and require all guests to do the same.” (Knoxville News Sentinel)
  • Freedom to read. Arizona’s prison system lifted its ban on a critically acclaimed book on African American men and prisons after a nationwide uproar and an ACLU challenge. “We won!” tweeted author Paul Butler, a former prosecutor and Georgetown law professor whose book, Chokehold: Policing Black Men, had been pulled from Arizona prisons. “This is a victory for the inmate who wanted to read my book, and for literacy and justice,” Butler wrote. “The struggle continues for the 2 million plus souls locked up in the US.” (Arizona Republic)
  • His mother knew. Charlie van der Horst’s mom was a Holocaust survivor. When his parents moved to the United States in 1950, they discovered their new nation was also rife with prejudice and hate, he once said. They became active in the civil rights movement, and their son, a noted researcher of AIDS and Ebola, didn’t fear jail time as he fought for the rights of North Carolina residents without health insurance. Van der Horst, 67, died in the Hudson River while swimming in a New York marathon earlier this month. “I think he used his powers for good,” said Dr. David Wohl, who came to the University of North Carolina to work with van der Horst in 1994 and is now a professor of medicine in the university’s Division of Infectious Diseases. Thanks to Jonathan M. Katz for the link. (News & Observer)
  • And hey-oh, Ohio: I’ll leave you this week with a waterfall from the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, via the Interior Department Twitter feed. Have a great week ahead!

Correction: The blooming flower in the Interior Department’s tweet is actually known as dame’s rocket, not a phlox. The difference: A phlox has five petals; dame’s rocket has four.

More Mother Jones reporting on Recharge

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

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