This July has been great for live performances, not so great for movie reviews. Oh well. July started with The Jayhawks, continued with Adele and then Peter Gabriel and Sting in Chicago. Well, I was fortunate enough to see Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, speak in Minneapolis last night. She spoke to a very diverse and enthusiastic crowd made up of Girl Scouts, parents with their kids - boys and girls, teenagers, people of all colors and ages. Malala was introduced by Twin Cities journalist and broadcaster, Vineeta Sawkar, who interviewed Malala after her opening remarks. As Malala walked onto the stage she received a warm standing ovation. She spoke for about 30 minutes, talking about herself, the work that she has been doing the past several years, work that included visiting refugee camps around the world: Kenya, Jordan, Rwanda. Earlier in the day she visited with a group of Somali girls, refugees in Minneapolis. Malala spoke to them about the importance of education, which is a message she shares whenever possible. She got a laugh form the crowd when she said, "You really are nice. (paraphrasing)You're nice because you let them come here to live." Malala introduced her father, who was sitting up in the front row (how did he get those tickets?), and she has made it very clear that her father has been the biggest support for her (in terms of her thirst for education) by allowing her to go to school, encouraging her to question, contribute her ideas, even when she was a young girl of 11, even risking his life to educate the girls of their village; he received a huge round of applause. She showed her mischievous side when she said all of her love and forgiveness does not apply to her two younger brothers, and also when she said she was sure her best friend was wrong when they argued (you could see the twinkle in her eye). After speaking by herself, Vineeta Sawkar came back on stage and engage Malala in a wide ranging discussion, which included talking about the day she was shot by the Taliban on the way home from school; what it felt like to win the Nobel Peace Prize; what she loved and missed about the Swat Valley, her home in Pakistan; and her conflicting feelings when she a)learned that the WWE was fake and b) when she had to choose between Jon Stewart and John Cena when they wrestled. Malala very often directed her comments to the young people in the audience, encouraging them to take small steps in their own communities to make a difference, empowering them to make changes, to extend small kindnesses to others. She also spoke to parents, asking them to allow, encourage, support their children when they ask questions, challenge the status quo. I liked and respected Malala for her ability at her age (too many full grown adults can't do this) to poke fun at herself, but also to realize that she still has more to learn. She spoke about Islam and how important it is to her, but also that it was all she grew up with, but moving to England (well, she had to for her safety and medical care) she learned about different religions, and how much they have in common. She wasn't sure what a Christian or Jew would look like until she met them. Malala plans to continue to work for better education for children in developing countries, especially for girls, while she continues her own education. After seeing the documentary about her advocacy and activism, He Named Her Malala and reading her autobiography, I Am Malala (it was great to see so many of the kids there carrying copies of her book), I felt so lucky to have heard her in person. At the end she said she hoped we weren't bored. Not a chance. I'm not sure I'll get that opportunity again. My seat was in section 104, better than I've had for concerts, but not great for my pictures, but here are a few anyway.
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| I love how my photos of empty stages always come out great |
