Greta Thunberg is TIME’s 2019 Person of the Year!
This is perhaps not totally unexpected, but it is a great honor and recognition for this amazing person and for the climate change movement she has helped propel to the forefront of our collective consciousness.
The TIME shortlist had included Nancy Pelosi, the Whistleblower, the Hong Kong protestors, and trump (really). You can expect the right-wing to go apoplectic over this — so be it. But, this honor will certainly help raise awareness about her and about the subject of Climate Change among many Americans.
Bravo to Greta. And kudos to the editors at TIME.
Some excerpts from the article at TIME -
Thunberg is not a leader of any political party or advocacy group. She is neither the first to sound the alarm about the climate crisis nor the most qualified to fix it. She is not a scientist or a politician. She has no access to traditional levers of influence: she’s not a billionaire or a princess, a pop star or even an adult. She is an ordinary teenage girl who, in summoning the courage to speak truth to power, became the icon of a generation. By clarifying an abstract danger with piercing outrage, Thunberg became the most compelling voice on the most important issue facing the planet.
Thunberg is 16 but looks 12. She usually wears her light brown hair pulled into two braids, parted in the middle. She has Asperger’s syndrome, which means she doesn’t operate on the same emotional register as many of the people she meets. She dislikes crowds; ignores small talk; and speaks in direct, uncomplicated sentences. She cannot be flattered or distracted. She is not impressed by other people’s celebrity, nor does she seem to have interest in her own growing fame. But these very qualities have helped make her a global sensation. Where others smile to cut the tension, Thunberg is withering. Where others speak the language of hope, Thunberg repeats the unassailable science: Oceans will rise. Cities will flood. Millions of people will suffer.
Do read the comprehensive and lengthy article at the link.
Here is a video accompanying the article.
Meanwhile, Greta is busy trying to save the world from ourselves at COP25 -
And the gracious young lady shares the honor with everyone in the movement.
Some Reactions
Congratulations. And Thanks. May the World be with you.
Further Reading
- TIME Person of the Year — time.com/…
- Everything You Need to Know About TIME's Person of the Year — time.com/…
P.S.
According to TIME, the title goes to “the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse. That means the person is not necessarily a hero.” trump has been bestowed with the title, so have Hitler and Stalin.