Bono got the world to pay attention to the crisis in Africa. Social consciousness is in.

Celebrity has its perks. You can jet anywhere, stay in the finest hotels, eat the most delicious food.Everybody knows you - so much so that simply catching a glimpse can make a tired working stiff's day. Just ask the crowd that packed the Inquirer building's lobby Thursday when rock star Bono visited Philadelphia to collect the Liberty Medal.

It's popularity. It's curiosity. It's celebrity.It's power.

Bono has power. He - and other celebrities of substance - use it to help push humanitarian crises from the periphery of American public interest toward the center.

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