Halima Aden's TEDx Talk From Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya

Halima Aden's TEDx Talk From Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya

Rising fashion star Halima Aden made another appearance in the pages of Vogue Arabia, posing in the November 2018 for images by An Le. The AOC post prompted me to circle back to watch Halima Aden’s TEDx Talk in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, now that it’s available online.

Aden expressed profound thanks for getting the opportunity to revisit the Kakuma, which was founded in 1992 and is currently home to more than 185,000 inhabitants. “This camp taught me so many lessons and I’m so grateful I had the chance to return,” the model told her 620,000 Instagram followers. “A lot has changed since I’ve left but we still have along way to go.” 

At this moment when refugees are under assault globally, including in America, Halima’s words are deeply felt here at AOC. I also found this essay expressing in words by Halima many of the concepts expressed in her TEDX talk, posted on Dream Refugee.org.

Immersed in trying to piece together all of the refugee models and their intersections with each other, I momentarily forgot my own words from April 1, in which I already wrote that Halima Aden and Adut Akech were both born in the same refugee camp: Kakuma.

Halima Aden Returns To Kakuma Refugee Camp In Kenya, Films TEDX Talk, Becomes UNICEF Ambassador

Halima Aden Returns To Kakuma Refugee Camp In Kenya, Films TEDX Talk, Becomes UNICEF Ambassador

Model, beauty queen and humanitarian Halima Aden's life cup is overflowing with Gaia's bounty. 

"I was the first Muslim homecoming queen at my high school, the first Somali student senator at my college, and the first hijab-wearing woman in many places, like the Miss Minnesota USA beauty pageant, the runways of Milan and New York fashion weeks, and even on the historic cover of British Vogue," she explained in a recent (but not yet posted) TED Talk she gave at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya — another first, both for her and for TED, as it was the first talk streamed from a refugee camp in the program's history. But the visit also held a special significance for Halima, as it marked the first time she had returned to Kakuma after moving to the United States at age 7.

Child Bride Marriages Increase In Syrian Refugee Camps: Christiane Amanpour Investigates

Child Bride Marriages Increase In Syrian Refugee Camps: Christiane Amanpour Investigates

While Trump assures Americans that he will be tough on letting any Syrian refugees into America, more than half a million Syrians have sought refuge in neighboring Jordan. CNN's Christiane Amanpour visits the Zaatari refugee camp outside Mafraq, Jordan, asking the key question about why our hearts have gone cold. Vanity Fair shares her investigation. 

More than 80,000 Syrians live in Zaatari, a sizable number of the more than 600,000 Syrians who have poured into Jordan since 2011. Amanpour introduces a topic not discussed about the worst side effects of the Syrian war: the rise of early marriage for girls, victims of poverty-stricken parents who often truly believe their daughters will be safer with a husband. 

Amanpour's Vanity Fair article is not fully available online, but she shares her thoughts in this February 2017 piece for CNN. 

United Talent Agency Cancels Oscar Party, Will Donate $250,000 To ACLU and International Rescue Committee | Crowdrise Campaign Currently At $250,000

United Talent Agency (UTA) has bagged its annual Oscar party. preferring instead to donate $250,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union and International Rescue Committee. 

A major talent agency representing clients like Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Mariah Carey, Toby Keith, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Bettany, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and many more VIPS, UTA will also hold a rally on behalf of refugees at its offices two days before the Oscars on February 24. 

"This is a moment that demands our generosity, awareness and restlessness," wrote UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer to staff. “Our world is a better place for the free exchange of artists, ideas and creative expression. If our nation ceases to be the place where artists the world over can come to express themselves freely, then we cease, in my opinion, to be America.”

Last year, UTA held its exclusive Oscar party at chairman Jim Berkus' residence, joining major studios and agencies holding galas and parties on the biggest awards night of the year, including CAA, WME-IMG, ICM Partners and The Weinstein Co. 

The Hollywood Reporter also noted that Ari Emanuel, co-CEO of mega-agency and UTA competitor WME-IMG, sent an email to staff Wednesday notifying them that the company would be forming a political action committee, though it wasn’t immediately clear on what the PAC would focus.

UTA has also launched a campaign on Crowdrise, which has raised another $250,000 to support the ACLU and IRC. 

Related: ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) ON FIRE As Silicon Valley Give Money & Mentoring & Coffee Shops Kick In