The Grammy Museum in partnership with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, will celebrate the launch of their Speak Up, Sing Out songwriting contest with The Concert For Social Justice on April 8, 2015, at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles. Jackson Browne, David Crosby & Graham Nash, Melissa Etheridge, La Santa Cecilia and Tom Morello are the first performers announced for the concert.

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Throughout history, movements for social change have utilized the power of song to recount history and to inspire people in their journey toward justice. Music has been a catalyst for change, a medium for protest, and a way to deliver a message of hope. No one understood that better than the likes of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, Bob Marley and Bruce Springsteen.

Songs have the power to move people, more than words alone. Teaching people songs -- and singing them together -- can move people emotionally, socially, and politically.

Bono said, "Music can change the world because it can change people."

Ensuring that music will continue to play a significant role in social justice movements means that our youth, who hold the keys to the future, must be taught to understand this. Thus, the importance of the new program, "Speak Up Sing Out: Songs of Conscience,"being sponsored in partnership by The GRAMMY Museum and the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

This program, first piloted in Los Angeles schools in 2014, invites middle-school and high-school students to write songs about social justice issues and express their perspectives on issues ranging from domestic violence and housing to global warming and human trafficking, and other topics.

To advance and fund this important program Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and the GRAMMY Museum are presenting"The Concert for Social Justice"in Hollywood on April 8, 2015 at the Fonda Theater, were the winning song will be performed.

The show will highlight the power of music as a tool for social justice and will feature a collection of artists performing songs that have helped generate change over the past five decades.

The artists who have agreed to participate thus far are Jackson Browne, David Crosby & Graham Nash, Melissa Etheridge, La Santa Cecilia and Tom Morello, There will also be special performances from actors Dennis Haysbert, Martin Sheen, and Alfre Woodard.

Singer and activist Tom Morello, who will perform at the Concert, says it's his job as a musician "to steel the backbone of people on the front lines of social justice struggles, and to put wind in the sails of those struggles."

Clearly, this is an event not to be missed. Get your tickets while they are available online at Fondatheatre.com orAXS.com. Purchase tickets by phone by calling AXS at (888) 929-7849. Tickets are $55.

Authors Website: http://www.cesinaction.org/

Authors Bio:

Larry Gross is the Executive Director of the Coalition for Economic Survival (CES). He has been with CES for 42 years, since its inception in 1973.

CES is a grassroots, multi-racial, multi-ethnic tenants' rights organization serving low and moderate income renters throughout the greater Los Angeles area. CES is committed to organizing tenants to fight to ensure tenants' rights and preserve affordable housing.

Among CES' impressive track record of empowering tenants, securing concrete tenants' rights victories & new laws, and achieving institutional change include leading campaigns to win rent control in the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood. CES also led the effort to incorporate the City of West Hollywood and elected CES tenant leaders to the City Council.

Larry was a member of the Los Angeles City Housing Crisis Task Force and served as the chair of its State of Existing Affordable Housing Sub-committee.

He was appointed by the Mayor and Chairperson of the L.A. City Council Housing and Community Development Committee to serve on the Advisory Committee for the Study of the Economic Impact of Major Rehabilitation Evictions.

Larry was a member of L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti's Slum Housing Task Force was an appointee to the City Rent Stabilization Ordinance Study Oversight Committee by the L.A. City Council.

He serves on the Board of Directors of the ACLU/Southern California, Tenants Together and the Healthy Homes Collaborative.

In 2014, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed Larry to the LA Board of Animal Services Commission. In July 2015 he was elected Board Vice President.

In January 2012, Larry was appointed by the California Public Utilities Commission to its Low Income Oversight Board.