I never quite follow celebrity activism because they tend to die out and lead to nothing but concerts that raise awareness, money and alcohol levels. Then, everyone goes home and, well, that’s about it.

But before you even think about calling me cynical, I will admit that I alway root for a celebrity to make a mark, to be different from the others and, more importantly, to actually create a sort of forum that will do more than raise awareness and money.

Of the couple of celebrities whose efforts I follow is Ben Affleck. His recent efforts are centered around war-torn Congo; for now, he has only done the typical visits, interviews and the complimentary essay, but… Call it naive optimism, but I am hoping that he’ll be the one that will reach beyond the typical celebrity activism box and actually make a change, even more so than (gasp!) Bono.

To read his essay on Congo, published in June of this year, you can check out: Turning World’s Eyes and Ears to Congo