Calif. Hep B Free Concert Tour Launches
September 9, 2008
To raise awareness for hepatitis B, students will perform music and spoken word poetry as part of the California Hep B Free Tour on Sept. 16.
The concert, organized by UC Berkeley’s Team HBV, will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley’s Bear’s Lair Food Court and features Gene Hwang, a Berkeley alum and DJ, and Lanz Lipana, a third year UC Berkeley student majoring in Molecular Environmental Biology, who will play the guitar and sing.
One of the show’s highlights will be a dynamic spoken-word performance by Jason Hill, a medical student at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., and Ms. Bee.
Hill became inspired to use spoken word to raise awareness for hepatitis B after witnessing an HIV spoken-word performance.
“Music and poetry are exciting ways to get the word out about hepatitis B and to outreach to a young demographic that otherwise isn’t familiar with the disease,” said Hill, who currently has a spoken-word video on the disease produced in partnership with the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association on YouTube.
Steven Lin, a third-year medical student at Stanford School of Medicine, will also perform self-composed piano songs. Lin has family affected by the disease and has been active in the S.F. Hep B Free campaign since its conception with the Asian Liver Center.
“I want to see hepatitis B eliminated from the Bay Area and want to do anything I can to help,” said Lin. “Hopefully if we’re successful here, we can spark change nationwide.”
“Many people, young and old alike, have not heard about this disease,” said Tamiko Wong of the AsianWeek Foundation. “Our plan is to hold concerts on campuses throughout California to draw people in and get the word out about this deadly yet preventable disease.”
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To watch Jason Hill’s hepatitis b spoken word video visit snipurl.com/3one3. For more information about S.F. Hep B Free visit sfhepbfree.org.
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