Be the change.

I think all of us have a part of who we are that needs to give back. A piece of us that wants to be a part of something bigger than us. Thus we all search for avenues in which we feel called to help, donate, give, and speak up for. Ways we can lend a hand, a dollar, or a voice.

Some of us have found our niche in a fight against something that threatened our existence, whether it be cancer, a syndrome, a war, or an injustice. We've found our heart strings tied with the fatherless, the hungry, the poor, the destitute. We've seen the brokenness and poverty that lies within our cities. We've reached out to help where and when we can.

The more and more I learn about the depravity that exists in our beautiful world, the more I find a common thread.

Women.

There'd be a lot less orphans if women across the globe were empowered to earn money and have equal access.
There'd be a lot less poverty if women were educated.
There'd be a lot less disease if women were educated.
There'd be a lot less trafficking if women were valued.
There'd be a lot less war if women were in powerful positions along with men.
There'd be a lot less violence if women were made to know their worth.

As Bernard Kouchner the founder of Doctors Without Borders put it, "Progress is achieved through women."

I believe that all of us, no matter where out personal heart strings may tie, no matter where our causes may lie, we must empower women in order to achieve it.

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn put it this way in their amazing book Half the Sky, "Let us be clear about this up front: we hope to recruit you to join an incipient movement to emancipate women and fight global poverty by unlocking women's power as economic catalysts. That is the process underway- not a drama of victimization but of empowerment, the kind that transforms bubbly teenage girls from brothel slaves into successful business women."

You see I want to be apart of that. I want to be a part of empowering women to change the world.

And I don't have a master plan. Or even a novice plan. But I do have a voice. So I'll start with that.

I am hosting a screening of a documentary film called "It's A Girl". This film takes a specific look at what this vast inequity looks like specifically in India and China:

In India, China and many other parts of the world today, girls are killed, aborted and abandoned simply because they are girls. The United Nations estimates as many as 200 million girls⁽¹⁾ are missing in the world today because of this so-called “gendercide”.

Girls who survive infancy are often subject to neglect, and many grow up to face extreme violence and even death at the hands of their own husbands or other family members.

The war against girls is rooted in centuries-old tradition and sustained by deeply ingrained cultural dynamics which, in combination with government policies, accelerate the elimination of girls.

Shot on location in India and China, It’s a Girl reveals the issue. It asks why this is happening, and why so little is being done to save girls and women.

The film tells the stories of abandoned and trafficked girls, of women who suffer extreme dowry-related violence, of brave mothers fighting to save their daughters’ lives, and of other mothers who would kill for a son. Global experts and grassroots activists put the stories in context and advocate different paths towards change, while collectively lamenting the lack of any truly effective action against this injustice.

My hope for today is to bring light to this darkness. To use my voice to let people know that this is happening. If you would like to see this film please join us in Castle Rock, CO on Thursday May 23rd at 5:30 pm, at the AMC theatre. Purchase your tickets here. They are $10 and we must pre-sell 75 tickets in the next two weeks in order for the theatre to confirm our screening.

Here is the official trailer:

I am also working with teaming up with other organizations to help bring an end to gender in-equality. To help raise up the daughters of this world to know, that they are the answer we've been missing.
And I will have more on this soon!