New York, – Presenter Oprah Winfrey, astronaut Mae Jemison and actress Brie Larson have more in common than being stars in their fields: they aspire to “save the world”, a mission in which women are as important as men, as claimed on Wednesday at the summit “Women In The World” in New York.
The event, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, filled the Lincoln Center of the Big Apple with a predominantly female audience that applauded, laughed and became involved in the debates, focused on the role that women play in the changes that are shaping the future from different areas.
Precisely, attendees attended as if it were a sermon to the charismatic Oprah Winfrey, who runs a school for girls “with the goal of being leaders” in South Africa since 2007 and was the guest of honor of the organizer of the event, the ex-editor from Vanity Fair Tina Brown.
“Can women save the world? We’ve been doing exactly that for years, Tina, and summits like this inspire us to work,” said the presenter, who offered a markedly political speech and applauded the 42 new congress women invested last January. in the US, “who have lived things that few congressmen have to face”.
“It is time for the women of the world to mark the agenda,” said Oprah, referring to the achievements of her predecessors in this forum, activists, lawyers and journalists, among other professionals, and captivating the public, which brought together several celebrities.
Climate change emerged as one of the most urgent problems to tackle in the first talk, where Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman who traveled to space, called on women to “use their place at the table every day and create standards” , some of them uncomfortable, in front of those who say that “everything is going to go well”.
“We can not survive without the Earth,” said the scientist, trained in engineering and medicine, who also criticized the human “apathy” and pointed out that “we have enough technology, data and knowledge to know what to do, but we think we can wait. “
For her part, Brie Larson, winner of an Oscar for “La habitación” and the first female protagonist of the Marvel label (“Captain” Marvel “), was humble before the possibility of being” the superhero we need “, as the organizer presented her , but he prided himself on breaking a glass ceiling and “normalizing” that an actress could make millions of dollars.
The interpreter of the Air Force pilot Carol Danvers attributed many of the changes of her industry to the “Me Too” movement, “although there is still much to be done”, and encouraged the women to “take a step forward” without fear of fail, because that creates “strength and commitment”: “If I am here today it is because I failed millions of times”.
The day featured “truth warriors” who work to change the world from the media, such as Maria Ressa, the director of Rappler, arrested for her journalistic work in the Philippines, which addressed how social networks contribute to a “war zone” information “in which women are attacked and, as a whole, undermines democracy.
But “we can not just throw our hands in the air, the only people who can help us right now is the one that is inside the social networking platforms of the United States, supposedly with American values,” the award-winning journalist countered.
Social networks were a key tool for the sister of Saudi activist Loujain Al-Hathloul, imprisoned for protesting the veto in her country for women to drive. Fighter against oppression, Lina Al Hathloul called the world not to forget and raised the whole room with the keys of her house in hand in an emotional moment.
The journalist Tina Brown, who in this edition brings together about 100 prominent women between the podium and the public, stressed that not only are the “famous” who can fix the most pressing issues in the world, but are the ordinary women who , with their “courage” and daily actions, which take the reins of change.
Brown took the opportunity to take stock of the decade completed by the summit, which began in 2009, when people “considered feminism” an “unnameable” word, and now finds its “moment” key in the current “global women’s movement” that They ask to be “listened to, respected and believed” (EFEUSA).
