November 11, 2009
Three years after he delivered his first thought-provoking
lecture at St. John’s University, renowned New York Times columnist
Nicholas Kristof returned to the Queens campus on November 9 to
discuss his latest book, the bestselling Half the Sky: Turning
Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,
co-authored with his wife Sheryl WuDunn. Mr. Kristof, whose
writings in recent years have focused on global health, poverty and
gender issues in the developing world, has now turned his attention
to what he calls “the diffuse cruelty of indifference,” the
oppression of girls and women across the globe.
Mr. Kristof’s theme of empowering the disadvantaged was not a new
one for the members of the St. John’s community who packed the
University’s Little Theatre. They were hearing a speaker who,
whether he realized it or not, was endorsing St. John’s Vincentian
mission of providing an excellent education to the disadvantaged
and service to those most in need.
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The title of the Times writer’s book is taken from an old Chinese
proverb, “Women hold up half the sky,” explained Mr. Kristof, who
was based in China in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. Learning of a
girl—“the brightest student in the school”—whose family removed her
from elementary school to save the $13 it cost, he wrote about the
situation in a New York Times article. The outpouring of checks
(“most of them for $13,” he laughed) that ensued allowed him to
bring thousands of dollars back to that school where the principal
announced that from then on girls who wanted to learn would stay in
school.
“That incident—providing a girl with the education she craved—was
what precipitated this book.”
A two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize (one of which he shares
with Ms. WuDunn) for his writing on the Tiananmen Square protests
and on the Darfur genocide, Mr. Kristof now sheds light on the
undervaluation of women, which he describes as “the paramount moral
challenge" of our present era, comparing it to the fight against
slavery in the 19th century and totalitarianism in the 20th
century.
“The cause of our times, the central moral challenge, is gender
inequality around the globe…Women and girls aren’t the problem,
they are the solution,” he pointed out.
Then, in one example after another, he described the plight of
women around the globe—in China, in Cambodia, in Pakistan and
Afghanistan, in India and Ethiopia, to name only a few.
Time and again, the Times writer went back to the basic theme of
education, which he described as “utterly transformative” to a
woman’s life. Women are “squandered assets to their families, their
communities and their countries,” he stated. However, he warned
that most “top-down” humanitarian efforts fail, but what is working
well are the efforts within local communities themselves. He cited
the case of a Polish nun in the Congo who was holding a community
together almost singlehandedly, calling her “absolutely
inspiring.”
That was a message very much in alignment with St. John’s
commitment to the Vincentian charism of service to the poor and
disadvantaged locally, nationally and internationally. The
University’s inclusion of a service component in all global studies
programs, and eventually in every course, allows its students to
serve in communities around the world, creating sustainable change
and making a difference one day at a time and even one person at a
time.
Mr. Kristof then outlined his proposed agenda for change: eliminate
sex trafficking; reduce maternal mortality; and create microfinance
opportunities for women (St. John’s is already at the forefront of
this movement with its
GLOBE microfinance program in The Peter J. Tobin College of
Business and separately, its partnership with Grameen America, an
outgrowth of the University’s Vincentian
Institute for Social Action and intended to change lives and
alleviate poverty throughout the world.)
In the question-and-answer session that followed, Mr. Kristof
offered his advice to students inquiring how they can get involved.
He urged them not to be discouraged by the depressing stories but
to be inspired by the successes, the people making a
difference.
“All of us here have won the lottery at birth and with that, we
become responsible as well. It’s important how we discharge that
responsibility.” He recommended that students “travel as much as
possible, but outside your comfort zone” and to lobby for
organizations that are working “to bring about change from the
bottom up.”
Mr. Kristof’s lecture, one of almost two dozen being held at part
of St. John’s Academic Lecture Series, was made possible through
the sponsorship of the Office of the Provost, the Division of
Student Affairs, the Women and Gender Studies Program and The New
York Times. Mr. Kristof’s book is now available at the St. John’s
Bookstore.