i had the great opportunity to get to hear ishmael beah speak on campus tonight. he is the author of a long way gone: memoirs of a boy soldier and i could simply listen to him speak for quite a while. here are the things i hope to take away from tonight:

--ishmael spoke about how for a while when he came to america he couldn't think about making plans or thinking past today. he was still in the mode of surviving. and that's a radical thought for me: the idea that so much of the world is consumed with survival rather than a hope of a future.

--ishmael's mother, laura simms (the woman who became his american mother once he moved here) spoke about the importance of a country's culture. and how so often when we focus on 'fixing' a place we think we can bring in our own ideas, when really we can focus on something within their own culture that worked and was a source of joy at one point and reignite that. culture, arts, etc. is a source of unity.

--it's always important to give context to stories. when they're left as just solitary cases people make assumptions and stereotypes. (always good to hear that as a journalist).

and it was just a good night of being reminded of the power of storytelling and how every person has a story, every story can change something about the world--whether miniscule in scope or larger than you could imagine--