[Music]
so there was this girl who had a
recurring nightmare every night she’d be
in bed sleeping and all of a sudden the
door to her room would open unveiling
the shadow of a person standing there
looking at her and she would always wake
up before she could see that person’s
face and she’d be very afraid so one
morning she woke up and ran to her
mother to tell her about that terrifying
dream she’d been having and her mother
listened quietly and then asked her so
you’ve never gotten to see that person’s
face have you so the daughter said no
haven’t mom and then her mother said but
you’re afraid something terrible is
about to happen to you and so the
daughter replied yes mom very afraid and
finally the mother said what if
something good is about to happen and
she sat there for a second and thought
about it because you see it hadn’t
occurred to her not even for a second
that the end of that terrifying dream
could be a good one so that night she
went to bed and fell asleep and started
dreaming again and all of a sudden the
door to her room opened unveiling the
shadow of a person standing there except
this time the shadow started walking
towards her and as it got closer she
started she recognized his face that
shadow actually was her strange father
would come home from a very long
business trip and was just dying to kiss
his daughter goodnight our thoughts our
perceptions our fears they can control
us they can cripple us even or we can
confront them challenge them and
eventually break free from them
my nan for Jenny as Alex said I’m a
journalist and I’m very passionate about
my job and I want to share a little bit
about my story and my journey with you
up to this point I was born in me share
you know this big desert filled country
in West Africa that people outside of
the continent either don’t know or get
mixed up in Nigeria
my father was Algerian the man who
raised me my other father from Mali and
my mother from me share and as a child I
lived in Algeria in Zaire and Guinea and
Burkina Faso all before the age of 12
and as an adult I took my nomadic
predispositions if I can call him that
to a whole new level as I reset it in
France China France again in China again
then South Africa then I went to the UK
then back to France then I went to
Africa
Irie coast and more recently the Congo
but regardless of the place the city the
country the continent I have found
myself and people have subconsciously or
consciously for that matter attempted to
put me in a box a box I felt did not
reflect the complexity of the person
that I am in France in China for
instance I’ve often been the one black
girl in the office having to speak for
all minorities when the base of our
diversity and African culture would
arise
whereas in western Africa in francophone
countries I’m often considered a
westerner because when I speak French my
native song is with that white accent
that I simply acquired at French school
the preconceived notions the prejudice
they used to affect me but I’ve learned
that you know in the words of Marcus
Aurelius if you are pained by external
things it is not that they disturb you
but your own judgement of them it is in
your power to wipe out that judgment now
what this phrase essentially means is
that circumstances and opinions they do
not matter what matters is our
perceptions of said opinions and
circumstances and our ability to change
that perception what matters is that we
decide to not confine ourselves in the
borders of our minds because those
mind-numbing constricting borders the
walls that we’ve treated pretty much
accepted as fatality we can break them
and they often keep us from embracing
our true selves and reaching our fullest
potential for me it began with family my
parents have in the past put me in a box
they had their very own idea of the kind
of person I should be the kind of career
should take on you know as most parents
do they fantasize about serious careers
and my financial security and stability
and then there’s also that voice in
their head I kept whispering over and
over and over again this girl she keeps
going from this country to that country
from that challenge to this challenge
but she in thinking about marriage I
know that some people may be able to
relate to this one marriage and African
parents that’s very important thing but
I was 14 when I started dreaming about
becoming a journalist I would watch
Christiane Amanpour his reports on CNN
and think to myself this could be me one
day
but in most conversations I would have
with people I would say I wanted to be a
lawyer
it made sense at the time you know
because I wasn’t really aware of what a
lawyer actually does for a living and
you know in American TV shows it always
looks very cool the theatrical epic
closing arguments I thought that’s what
a lawyer was about but by the time I
graduated from high school I knew it
really wasn’t what I was about so I
moved to southern France and I still
went with my studies
it fits in my parents box and it fit in
my 18 year old self box but by year two
I hated it I could not stand the idea of
being a lawyer I could not stand the
studies and it dawned upon me I had
always wanted to become a journalist so
now I just had to be one now let’s be
real just because you decide on
something and you wanted very badly
doesn’t mean it’s going to happen
overnight as cliche as a reference as
this may be Oprah Winfrey did not become
the media mogul and brand that she is
overnight as a matter of fact Oprah
Winfrey’s first job as an anchor that
was on ABC her first show it tanked and
she was regarded as a source of its
failure so the road towards one’s goal
is often a rocky path with obstacles
along the way and since I’ve taken on my
journey I’ve come across owaisi’s and
mountains valleys and plain fields I’ve
had to take muddy deviations only to
encounter unexpected shortcuts for
instance I’ve been an intern more times
than I should have
I’ve made photocopies I’ve brought
coffee to anchors have been subjected to
ridiculous women tantrums I remember
this one time on our first job in
television and in Paris actually there
was a problem with the software that we
used so I wasn’t able to print the
script for my presenter and that woman
went crazy hysterical on me and simply
assumed that I was not bright enough to
know how to press print on a computer so
you know I’m still talking about it
today because I haven’t gotten over it I
really really hurt my ego but yeah I’ve
had very I’ve had dry spells early on in
my career moments you feel you’re on the
sidelines of the action not doing
anything meaningful or not actually
fulfilling your purpose Boniface Mwangi
he’s an activist
and international photographer but based
in Kenya and he described a similar
feeling that he experienced in a TED
talk he did a few years ago that I
really appreciated he said that there
was a time he finally decided to stop
being a smart coward as they call it and
speak up against the rampant corruption
and violence in his country so him and
his friends they were going to go and
heckle at a public mass meeting and just
speak up against that now when the day
came none of his friends showed up he
was alone and he had a choice be a
coward or be brave and guess what he
still stood up for what he believed in
despite the fears and the failure he did
now back to me in 2015 I was on a short
term text producing contract in Paris
for a renowned international channel and
at the same time in Asia and southern
Asia my country Boko Haram the terrorist
group was gaining grounds and slowly but
surely destroying the Chad Basson’s
region so I naturally wanted to cover
that story I wanted to go beyond the
headlines beyond the death tolls I
wanted to see what was going on there
firsthand but the problem was that I was
not on the stations reporters list you
know there’s reporters and then there’s
text producers and you can’t really go
from one to another that’s not how it
works in journalism so I could not
really do it because it doesn’t didn’t
matter that I spoke the language that it
was my country and that I had the
connections no one was going to
Commission the story and no one was
there to Commission me so out of despair
I think and frustration more than
bravery I took some of the money I had
on the side I hopped on a plane I went
Tunisia and I with the help of an uncle
in the military
I got embedded with the army now mind
you had no experience in war and crisis
reporting I don’t know if you see me
here I don’t look really tough
and I’m even told by certain people that
I’m precious so it was a bit of a risk
my family was mortified but I travelled
along the border with Nigeria and I
visited villages
I spoke to soldiers refugees traders
farmers people who had been deeply
affected by by this crisis I try to
compile their stories and I went back to
Paris and pitched my story and guess
what my credentials did not matter
anymore and the story was broadcast
today I worked for a pan-african thank
you today I worked for a pan-african
news channel that some of you may know
I’m not gonna say the name because I
don’t know if you can and I co-host the
news Morning Show which basically means
beyond the glamour of being on
television that I go to bed before
sunset every night I wake up at 1:00
a.m. while all of you are sleeping and
that I have no social life whatsoever so
but more importantly what’s interesting
is that it took me months before I felt
like I belonged on that set and like I
belong on the chair of that studio let’s
say I had some very humble beginnings I
stumbled on every other word I was
crippled by fear I could not talk I was
very I was not a natural it was was not
a given for me so it wasn’t until my
mother who now watches my show
religiously she’s one of my biggest fans
she called me one day and told me do you
realize how much you’ve grown as a
presenter you finally command that stage
now that I realized that well it’s true
I do feel like I command it and I
realized how far I had come today I’m
not nowhere near being the woman I
aspire to be I haven’t affected the
change that one affects you know in this
era of digital journalism and citizen
journalism the era of fake news and
alternative facts I
but not take a job but Donald Trump I
can’t help it
in this era I really want to be someone
who makes journalism that’s reliable
I want to incite good governance and
accountability in Africa and beyond I’m
not quite there yet but if my little
experience has taught me anything it’s
that it’s when I’m pushing against my
limitations my intellectual limitations
going against my fears and exploring
those borders that I’m getting closer
and closer to the person and the best
version of myself now you’ve heard this
before it’s not a new message I know
that but revolutionaries like Burkina
Faso’s Thomas Anka and malechek Madiba
cotta they did not come to inspire
generations by giving in to oppression
and circumstances and hardship Nigeria’s
from a London goes the idea she did not
become one of the strongest female
voices of our time by being idle and
staying in her Lane as for there’s a
design I really like from ivory coast
actually her name is Louisa Millay on
Boeing her designs they were put in
Beyonce’s lemonade film that’s a big
deal because there were a true
reflection of herself weird flamboyant
and unique so I encourage you to not
confine yourself in the borders of your
mind to forget the fact that you think
that those walls cannot be broken
because they can they can they’re being
broken every day by people that you know
and people that you don’t know I
encourage you to fight against your
fears of course everyone is afraid of
failure we’re all afraid that something
terrible is going to happen that we’re
not gonna make it it’s the most natural
thing because circumstances are
difficult and people are telling us that
we can’t do things but really do not
forget that people have done it before
you and will do it after you so if you
have a purpose go after it
it’s cliche but go after your dreams and
remember what that mother said to her
daughter in that story I told you
earlier face your shadow something bad
could happen yes but what if something
good is about to happen thank you
[Applause]
so there was this girl who had a
recurring nightmare every night she’d be
in bed sleeping and all of a sudden the
door to her room would open unveiling
the shadow of a person standing there
looking at her and she would always wake
up before she could see that person’s
face and she’d be very afraid so one
morning she woke up and ran to her
mother to tell her about that terrifying
dream she’d been having and her mother
listened quietly and then asked her so
you’ve never gotten to see that person’s
face have you so the daughter said no
haven’t mom and then her mother said but
you’re afraid something terrible is
about to happen to you and so the
daughter replied yes mom very afraid and
finally the mother said what if
something good is about to happen and
she sat there for a second and thought
about it because you see it hadn’t
occurred to her not even for a second
that the end of that terrifying dream
could be a good one so that night she
went to bed and fell asleep and started
dreaming again and all of a sudden the
door to her room opened unveiling the
shadow of a person standing there except
this time the shadow started walking
towards her and as it got closer she
started she recognized his face that
shadow actually was her strange father
would come home from a very long
business trip and was just dying to kiss
his daughter goodnight our thoughts our
perceptions our fears they can control
us they can cripple us even or we can
confront them challenge them and
eventually break free from them
my nan for Jenny as Alex said I’m a
journalist and I’m very passionate about
my job and I want to share a little bit
about my story and my journey with you
up to this point I was born in me share
you know this big desert filled country
in West Africa that people outside of
the continent either don’t know or get
mixed up in Nigeria
my father was Algerian the man who
raised me my other father from Mali and
my mother from me share and as a child I
lived in Algeria in Zaire and Guinea and
Burkina Faso all before the age of 12
and as an adult I took my nomadic
predispositions if I can call him that
to a whole new level as I reset it in
France China France again in China again
then South Africa then I went to the UK
then back to France then I went to
Africa
Irie coast and more recently the Congo
but regardless of the place the city the
country the continent I have found
myself and people have subconsciously or
consciously for that matter attempted to
put me in a box a box I felt did not
reflect the complexity of the person
that I am in France in China for
instance I’ve often been the one black
girl in the office having to speak for
all minorities when the base of our
diversity and African culture would
arise
whereas in western Africa in francophone
countries I’m often considered a
westerner because when I speak French my
native song is with that white accent
that I simply acquired at French school
the preconceived notions the prejudice
they used to affect me but I’ve learned
that you know in the words of Marcus
Aurelius if you are pained by external
things it is not that they disturb you
but your own judgement of them it is in
your power to wipe out that judgment now
what this phrase essentially means is
that circumstances and opinions they do
not matter what matters is our
perceptions of said opinions and
circumstances and our ability to change
that perception what matters is that we
decide to not confine ourselves in the
borders of our minds because those
mind-numbing constricting borders the
walls that we’ve treated pretty much
accepted as fatality we can break them
and they often keep us from embracing
our true selves and reaching our fullest
potential for me it began with family my
parents have in the past put me in a box
they had their very own idea of the kind
of person I should be the kind of career
should take on you know as most parents
do they fantasize about serious careers
and my financial security and stability
and then there’s also that voice in
their head I kept whispering over and
over and over again this girl she keeps
going from this country to that country
from that challenge to this challenge
but she in thinking about marriage I
know that some people may be able to
relate to this one marriage and African
parents that’s very important thing but
I was 14 when I started dreaming about
becoming a journalist I would watch
Christiane Amanpour his reports on CNN
and think to myself this could be me one
day
but in most conversations I would have
with people I would say I wanted to be a
lawyer
it made sense at the time you know
because I wasn’t really aware of what a
lawyer actually does for a living and
you know in American TV shows it always
looks very cool the theatrical epic
closing arguments I thought that’s what
a lawyer was about but by the time I
graduated from high school I knew it
really wasn’t what I was about so I
moved to southern France and I still
went with my studies
it fits in my parents box and it fit in
my 18 year old self box but by year two
I hated it I could not stand the idea of
being a lawyer I could not stand the
studies and it dawned upon me I had
always wanted to become a journalist so
now I just had to be one now let’s be
real just because you decide on
something and you wanted very badly
doesn’t mean it’s going to happen
overnight as cliche as a reference as
this may be Oprah Winfrey did not become
the media mogul and brand that she is
overnight as a matter of fact Oprah
Winfrey’s first job as an anchor that
was on ABC her first show it tanked and
she was regarded as a source of its
failure so the road towards one’s goal
is often a rocky path with obstacles
along the way and since I’ve taken on my
journey I’ve come across owaisi’s and
mountains valleys and plain fields I’ve
had to take muddy deviations only to
encounter unexpected shortcuts for
instance I’ve been an intern more times
than I should have
I’ve made photocopies I’ve brought
coffee to anchors have been subjected to
ridiculous women tantrums I remember
this one time on our first job in
television and in Paris actually there
was a problem with the software that we
used so I wasn’t able to print the
script for my presenter and that woman
went crazy hysterical on me and simply
assumed that I was not bright enough to
know how to press print on a computer so
you know I’m still talking about it
today because I haven’t gotten over it I
really really hurt my ego but yeah I’ve
had very I’ve had dry spells early on in
my career moments you feel you’re on the
sidelines of the action not doing
anything meaningful or not actually
fulfilling your purpose Boniface Mwangi
he’s an activist
and international photographer but based
in Kenya and he described a similar
feeling that he experienced in a TED
talk he did a few years ago that I
really appreciated he said that there
was a time he finally decided to stop
being a smart coward as they call it and
speak up against the rampant corruption
and violence in his country so him and
his friends they were going to go and
heckle at a public mass meeting and just
speak up against that now when the day
came none of his friends showed up he
was alone and he had a choice be a
coward or be brave and guess what he
still stood up for what he believed in
despite the fears and the failure he did
now back to me in 2015 I was on a short
term text producing contract in Paris
for a renowned international channel and
at the same time in Asia and southern
Asia my country Boko Haram the terrorist
group was gaining grounds and slowly but
surely destroying the Chad Basson’s
region so I naturally wanted to cover
that story I wanted to go beyond the
headlines beyond the death tolls I
wanted to see what was going on there
firsthand but the problem was that I was
not on the stations reporters list you
know there’s reporters and then there’s
text producers and you can’t really go
from one to another that’s not how it
works in journalism so I could not
really do it because it doesn’t didn’t
matter that I spoke the language that it
was my country and that I had the
connections no one was going to
Commission the story and no one was
there to Commission me so out of despair
I think and frustration more than
bravery I took some of the money I had
on the side I hopped on a plane I went
Tunisia and I with the help of an uncle
in the military
I got embedded with the army now mind
you had no experience in war and crisis
reporting I don’t know if you see me
here I don’t look really tough
and I’m even told by certain people that
I’m precious so it was a bit of a risk
my family was mortified but I travelled
along the border with Nigeria and I
visited villages
I spoke to soldiers refugees traders
farmers people who had been deeply
affected by by this crisis I try to
compile their stories and I went back to
Paris and pitched my story and guess
what my credentials did not matter
anymore and the story was broadcast
today I worked for a pan-african thank
you today I worked for a pan-african
news channel that some of you may know
I’m not gonna say the name because I
don’t know if you can and I co-host the
news Morning Show which basically means
beyond the glamour of being on
television that I go to bed before
sunset every night I wake up at 1:00
a.m. while all of you are sleeping and
that I have no social life whatsoever so
but more importantly what’s interesting
is that it took me months before I felt
like I belonged on that set and like I
belong on the chair of that studio let’s
say I had some very humble beginnings I
stumbled on every other word I was
crippled by fear I could not talk I was
very I was not a natural it was was not
a given for me so it wasn’t until my
mother who now watches my show
religiously she’s one of my biggest fans
she called me one day and told me do you
realize how much you’ve grown as a
presenter you finally command that stage
now that I realized that well it’s true
I do feel like I command it and I
realized how far I had come today I’m
not nowhere near being the woman I
aspire to be I haven’t affected the
change that one affects you know in this
era of digital journalism and citizen
journalism the era of fake news and
alternative facts I
but not take a job but Donald Trump I
can’t help it
in this era I really want to be someone
who makes journalism that’s reliable
I want to incite good governance and
accountability in Africa and beyond I’m
not quite there yet but if my little
experience has taught me anything it’s
that it’s when I’m pushing against my
limitations my intellectual limitations
going against my fears and exploring
those borders that I’m getting closer
and closer to the person and the best
version of myself now you’ve heard this
before it’s not a new message I know
that but revolutionaries like Burkina
Faso’s Thomas Anka and malechek Madiba
cotta they did not come to inspire
generations by giving in to oppression
and circumstances and hardship Nigeria’s
from a London goes the idea she did not
become one of the strongest female
voices of our time by being idle and
staying in her Lane as for there’s a
design I really like from ivory coast
actually her name is Louisa Millay on
Boeing her designs they were put in
Beyonce’s lemonade film that’s a big
deal because there were a true
reflection of herself weird flamboyant
and unique so I encourage you to not
confine yourself in the borders of your
mind to forget the fact that you think
that those walls cannot be broken
because they can they can they’re being
broken every day by people that you know
and people that you don’t know I
encourage you to fight against your
fears of course everyone is afraid of
failure we’re all afraid that something
terrible is going to happen that we’re
not gonna make it it’s the most natural
thing because circumstances are
difficult and people are telling us that
we can’t do things but really do not
forget that people have done it before
you and will do it after you so if you
have a purpose go after it
it’s cliche but go after your dreams and
remember what that mother said to her
daughter in that story I told you
earlier face your shadow something bad
could happen yes but what if something
good is about to happen thank you
[Applause]
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