Apparently Joel Madden has caught the Twitter bug, though he’s using it for a different reason than most. Madden, of Good Charlotte (and Nicole Richie) fame, joined John Prendergast of the Enough Project Wednesday and urged people to be active … digitally.
As Madden took the stage at the Campus Progress national conference (after Twittering himself backstage, according to Prendergast), the first thing he asked was “You guys Twittering right now?” He and Prendergast went on to explain the goals of their project: to break down barriers and stop violence in central Africa. They talked about conflict minerals in the Congo, which are used for electronics, and the violence that occurs over them every day.
“The deadliest war since World War II is going on in Africa right now,” said the Waldorf, Md., native, “and it’s happening over our own cell phones and computers.” He urged people to use Twitter and Facebook to start their own viral campaigns and asked people to reach out to their friends against the use of conflict minerals. The men even stopped their speech and asked everyone to send a text to their project, though Madden had a difficult time doing it. “I’m a very poor speller,” he said.
Madden recently returned from visiting Central Africa, where he met with people and heard their stories of violence. He also spent time lobbying in Congress with Prendergast, and he urged everyone to contact their representative and discuss the issue. “We’re all contributing to the violence,” he said. “We’re all responsible.”
