On Starting Friends At Work
Increasingly, musicians are now approaching Stiklorius to manage them in comparison to the more money-focused traditional management agencies, as artists become more aware that the legacy they want to leave behind should not just be their music but also how they stepped up for social change and justice in this time of profound historical change.
Afterward, many people contacted Stiklorius to tell her this wasn’t true. But when she told them to look it up, they realized that it was, in fact, the current reality. In a mere matter of seconds, Legend was able to raise awareness in millions. When it comes to making any type of change, you must start with making them well aware of the issue and its implications.In 2014, Legend kicked off his campaign calledwith a “listening and learning” tour around the country.
If you want to make changes that really matter, you have to get proximate, know your history, stay hopeful, and have uncomfortable conversations.When Legend was asked to do a TED talk, Friends at Work said he’d participate—but with one very big condition. He would perform “” by Bob Marley, but only if the TED team gave the speaking portion to spoken word artist James Cavitt, who was an inmate at San Quentin State Prison at the time.