Sunday, March 31, 2013

April 1 Half the Sky

Could we live with half the sky, half the sun, half the rain? The idea is unthinkable.

In 2009 Nicholas D. Kristof from Yamhill, Oregon and Sheryl WuDunn wrote a book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Since, they have traveled the world documenting for public television situations where women of all ages are blocked from reaching their full potential. And with the great challenges facing our species, we need everyone working on them!

Kristof and WuDunn were in the right place at the right time to report on the Chinese democracy movement in 1989, for which they won a Pulitzer. They have gone on to report all over the world. Kristof has had a strong impact on reporting on the war in Darfur Sudan and on trafficing of girls in Southeast Asia. He operates a scholarship program in which college students accompany him on hard berth reporting projects worldwide. World news gathering is in decline over costs and perhaps disinterest, distraction or overwhelming depression. Maybe there is an antidote; there is a good argument that he is the most effective journalist operating in the world today.

Kristof presents his Half the World project in a talk tonight, with a book signing to follow. At Reed College in Kaul Auditorium www.reed.edu 3203 SE Woodstock 7PM Free