Keep a Promise concert
HOLLYWOOD A-lister Queen Latifah and US award-winning hip hop artist Common will take to the stage in this year’s Keep The Promise 2016 concert and march in Durban today.
Dubbed #KTP2016 on social media, it will open the International Aids Conference, for which thousands of international and local delegates will be in Durban over the next week.
Queen Latifah said it was her first visit to South Africa and “it feels good to be here for such a good cause”.
Common said, “I’m excited to support the people of Durban and the Aids Healthcare Foundation. This is going to be cool.”
The march and concert are being hosted bythe foundation which is the largest global Aids organisation.
The march leaves Sahara Stadium Kingsmead at midday and ends at the stadium.
Queen Latifah, known for her roles in movies such as Bringing Down The House and Chicago, and Common, the 2015 winner of the Academy Award for best original song in a motion picture for the movie Selma, are set to wow the audiences.
The concert, which starts at 4pm, also features some big names in the local music industry such as B-Flow, Mi casa and Big Nuz, while Proverb and Ayanda will MC.
#KTP2016 is an advocacy platform for those fighting HIV/Aids, and focusing on the need to increase Aids funding.
Keep The Promise was first launched in 2012 when hundreds of HIV/Aids advocates and US personalities, including Ambassador Andrew Young, Reverand Al Sharpton, television personality Tavis Smiley, political activist Dr Cornel West, and comedian Margaret Cho, held a march and rally in Washington DC which featured a special message from Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Subsequent marches have been held in Atlanta, New York (Brooklyn) and Cleveland in the US.