Every morning when I log onto the New York Times website, I scan a few of the headline stories. But, in the back of my mind I know that what I’m really prepping myself for is their opinion editorial piece written by columnist Nicholas D. Kristof. He is absolutely one of my favorite journalists and probably one of the most inspirational to me for various reasons. Kristof writes for the New York Times specifically focusing on issues that I believe bear great importance. Whether it’s the plight of women living in the slums of India or the condition of human rights in Bahrain, he always manages to cover the topics that few of us in the States could ever truly relate to, but that we absolutely need to pay attention to.              

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He has also written a book called Half the Sky which focuses on the current global crisis pertaining to women and girls around the world. This book, created in partnership with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, is greatly inspiring as it is heartbreaking. With his words, Kristof is able to paint for us a picture that many of us would probably never have the courage to look at. He tells the stories of women working in a slew of professions, some of which are tied to their sometimes poor economic conditions. In this book, I was able to read about young girls working in sweat shops as well as those who walk miles day after day just to get to school – hurdles that I’m not sure I would have been able to overcome at their ages.           

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​It is here that we are able to see the power of writing and the power of words themselves. For although there are too many people living in the West and other parts of the world that will read Kristof’s book or his many columns and will feel an urge to stop reading the unsettling accounts of others, there are still those who will read his work and feel something more. There are people who will follow every word on the page and become saddened or startled or shocked or even disturbed. This is because words are able to do something that many of us cannot do ourselves – they can evoke emotions for issues that we never thought to care about before or weren’t even aware of. And besides the feelings of negativity, words can also lead us to feel inspired.

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Whenever I read the work of Nicholas D. Kristof, I know I don’t just feel despair and hopelessness for the people being written about in some of these horrible situations. His work also leaves me with the empathy required in order to make their situations aware to others. It inspires me to take action in the ways I feel will help some of these people. For although I have never met the protesters marching through the streets of Egypt and have never been introduced to the women struggling to find safety while living in the Congo, I feel as if I am now associated with this people because I have been introduced to their story.

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To me, writing is not simply the scribbling of words on paper or the occasional tapping of fingers on the keyboard. Writing is a window to circumstances that we would have never witnessed had we not sat down and read about them. It is what forces us to open our eyes to some of our greatest triumphs as well as some of our greatest regrets. The platform of words is one of man’s greatest accomplishments for they are able to awaken and enlighten us. Words can be uplifting as easily as they can be unsettling. The tool of writing is able to move us to places we have never heard of before as well as place new ideas in our minds. It is essential to the growth of any civilization and is one of the reasons why we have formed the cultures we now live in today. In this way, we see how words are truly mightier than the sword.