Kofi Annan, the first global citizen
I am attending the State of the Planet conference at Columbia University today and tomorrow. (I will have more on that later.)
I just heard Kofi Annan speak for the first time in real life. He is a charismatic and funny story teller. Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia University, called him the "First truly global citizen of the world." To prove that he lives up to his expectation, Kofi Annan volunteered a story.
He and his wife were vacationing in a remote corner of the planet one time, trying to stay away from any news, publicity and people. He said they lasted three weeks before it got really boring. When they finally ventured out for the first time, he was--as expected--recognized instantly. A local man came up to him and said: "I know who you are!" Then he shouted. "You are Morgan Freeman!"
Kofi Annan smiled and signed an autograph for him. It said: A Free Man.
Filed under: Activism
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mar 27th 2008 @ 2:50PM
Nick Hawkins said...
You're a better person than I - I'd lay into him about the UN's shortcomings on his watch if I was there. Lee Bolinger is also sort of a hump too - fawning over Ahmadinejad when he was in town.
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Mar 28th 2008 @ 11:58AM
rrgg said...
This is a ridiculous. Kofi Annan first came to the UN while his country of Ghana was a *dictatorship*. Why should anyone respect him or his so-called achievements?
Nevermind that he caved to tyrants in Sudan and other places, and never acknowledged his mistakes in Rwanda, or his complacency over the oil-for-food screw-up.
Global citizen of the world? More like global nepotist of the world.
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