Earlier this week, while representatives from around the world were in town for the U.N. General Assembly, Bill and I hosted our second annual
Goalkeepers event in New York City. The event felt special for a lot of reasons, including that it brought together a wide range of people whose names you don’t always hear in the same sentence—like French President Emmanuel Macron, Orange is the New Black’s Uzo Aduba, and Ghana’s DJ Switch (who, by the way, is only ten years old).
We started Goalkeepers to rally people behind the Sustainable Development Goals, which the U.N. adopted in 2015. The SDGs—also known as the
Global Goals—envision a world without poverty, hunger, or inequality. They are ambitious, important, and, with the right investments and commitments, entirely achievable. This year, Bill and I used the event to explain why we believe that poverty is not inevitable, that progress is possible, and that young people will be essential to that progress.
It was a powerful and deeply optimistic experience, and as it came to an end, I urged everyone who was watching to keep the energy going. In that spirit, I also recommended three new books that I consider to be essential reading for change-makers. One of them sheds new light on the life of a leader whose name you surely know. Another focuses on a quiet revolution unfolding far from the headlines. And a third tells the story of a young woman moved to action by a heartbreaking injustice.
All three are worth picking up. I hope you read them, share them, and let them inspire you.
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
By Nelson Mandela
Thirteen years into his imprisonment, Nelson Mandela wrote: “You may find that the cell is an ideal place to learn to know yourself, to search realistically and regularly the process of your own mind and feelings.” This extraordinary collection of letters, illustrations, and photos—published 100 years after his birth—helps us learn to know Mandela a little better, too.
The Hate U Give
By Angie Thomas
Tragically, it is story we’ve heard before: a young black man in America is pulled over and then murdered by a policeman. This gripping, important novel takes us into the mind of the young woman sitting next to him and retells that story from her perspective. We’re with her as she mourns his loss, testifies against his killer, and begins to find her voice as an activist.
Fifty Million Rising: The New Generation of Working Women Transforming the Muslim World
By Saadia Zahidi
Women in Muslim countries are entering the workforce in record numbers—gaining financial independence, challenging social norms, and driving what economist Saadia Zahidi calls a “quiet revolution.” Fifty Million Rising introduces us to four of these women: a manager at a McDonald’s in Pakistan, an entrepreneur in Indonesia, an owner of a catering business in Egypt, and a corporate executive in Saudi Arabia.
