Ask not what your planet can do for you, but what you can do for your planet.

Tracy Chapman and the “We the Planet” tour landed last night at the Holmes Student Center’s Carl Sandburg Auditorium for an evening of discussion about how to make a difference in the world.

Activist Julia Butterfly Hill appeared before the audience to dispel myths of activism.

“‘We the Planet’ deals with the idea that we need to reconnect with each other and reconnect with our planet, which we couldn’t live without,” she said. “This is our world and we need to take it personally. We need to act.”

Hill’s message later would be echoed by other speakers at the event.

Hill introduced Howard Lyman, agribusiness activist; Derrick Smith, counselor for NIU’s Center for Black Studies; Lisa Mayse-Lillig, of the DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice; and Tracy Chapman, singer and Grammy winner.

Lyman, a fourth-generation farmer, talked about his experiences getting sued after appearing on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” to talk about mad cow disease.

“After telling her about what they feed those cows, she said that she would never eat a hamburger again,” Lyman said. “We got sued $180 million each and we had to fight in court for six years in order to defend our right to tell the truth,” Lyman said.

Lyman fervently stressed the right to express opinions.

“If there’s nothing else that you leave with tonight, it’s that one person can make a difference,” he said. “You should live your life as you know it should be lived.”

Smith talked about his teachings about racism, politics and the environment.

“I stress to my students that they should go to places out of their safe zone in order to get involved with the community.”

But the crowd stuck around for Chapman, who ended the tour’s stop in DeKalb by using examples of how creativity can dispel labels and stereotypes and can be used to create a particular message.

“There are many people who can use their talents to stress a particular message,” she said. “It’s a miracle that something can be created from nothing.”

Chapman then performed a 20-minute acoustic set.

Afterward, students said they reacted to both the singing and the “We the Planet” message.

“I stayed for the singing, Tracy Chapman was awesome,” said junior deaf education major Jill Witkov.