UT SERIES: Lisa Ling urges empowerment, global involvement

Special correspondent Lisa Ling urged an audience of nearly 450 to empower themselves, seek out information of substance, and make a contribution to their local and global community.

"Be the change you want to see," the National Geographic and the Oprah Winfrey Show reporter said during her speech "China's Lost Girls" held at the University of Tennessee's Cox Auditorium on Monday night.

"In America we have unlimited access, yet how much do we seek out about the rest of the world?" she asked during the event sponsored by the University of Tennessee Issues Committee, 91.9 FM WUOT, Asian American Association and the Central Program Council.

Her Start

Ling, who has practiced journalism for more than 20 years, said Americans expect action from the government, but though government officials have a responsibility to engage other countries and their leaders, it is time for Americans to take the initiative and assume responsibility, as well.

"It's incumbent upon us as Americans, as human beings, if it's something that is tearing at you and you're concerned about ... empower yourself to do something about it."

The seasoned journalist told the audience she wanted to share with them not just her knowledge on "China's Lost Girls," but offer a glimpse into the stories that had a profound effect on her life.

Ling said her world changed dramatically when she began working at Channel One, a network exclusively for middle school and high school students. Ling was one of the youngest reporters when she arrived at the station, but by 1994, at age 21, she had made a name for herself and got her first shot at war correspondence.

Afghanistan

She traveled with the Red Cross to cover the civil war in Afghanistan. She said the most disturbing part of the trip was getting off the plane and being met by children holding guns bigger than themselves.

After returning home from the war-torn country, she was met with another mind-boggling experience. After all she had seen and been through, no one knew what she was talking about.

"It wasn't part of lexicon. It wasn't part of dialog. It was absolutely not part of our news, despite the fact, we all know now, our country was deeply involved in Afghanistan ... when our country funneled over a billion dollars of the highest tech-weaponry into Afghanistan," she said.

Big news was not being covered. This fueled her career in international correspondence. She returned to Afghanistan in 1997 to find a devastated nation.

After the war that American's supplied arms for, there was a power struggle among the country's people. They had turned the weapons against each other, Ling said. "Not a single wall stood not riddled with bullet holes."

Her Stories

Ling said her perspective of the world had changed after her time in Afghanistan. She continued her career covering dire situations around the globe and in the U.S., including the drug wars in Columbia; the dangerous culture of American prisons; the dangerous gang MS-13; the war in Iraq and Afghanistan; the troubles inside locked-down North Korea; and the titled topic of Monday's speech, China's one-child policy.

China

Ling introduced the audience to China's little girls with a video clip, a tape of American parents meeting their adopted Chinese daughters for the first time.

"These little girls have been through so much, you could see it in their faces," she said during the video. But the new parents' joy was obvious and multiplied as each one was introduced to their child.

"It was like everyone was going through labor at the same time," she said.

The reason for the excitement was that attitudes towards adoption in the country had made important progress, Ling explained. In the 1970s, China imposed the one-child policy. It was created to protect the country from an overrunning population.

What the government didn't anticipate was the consequences of the policy. If allotted only one child, couples wanted, if not needed, to have a boy to carry on the family name and to prosper economically, as well.

A boy would marry and potentially bring his wife and their family back, taking care of his parents. A girl would marry and leave the family. She would not help her parents financially.

The result, Ling said, was thousands of girls being aborted or abandoned. Some girls were placed for adoption.

National Geographic's cameras were the first to be allowed by the Chinese government to view such an event. When she was in the country, Ling visited orphanages and foster parents.

She spoke to Chinese women who said they were embarrassed that their children were being adopted by parents in other countries. They said they felt disgraced and devastated, she recalled.

The fact that women had chosen to come forward and speak to National Geographic about the situation was "monumental" and "made a very powerful statement," Ling said.

The imbalance of women to men has had a tremendous effect on the country, she said. Estimates show that in 20 years, there will be 40 million more men than women in China. This number is larger than the population of many countries. The impact is already being felt, with reports of kidnappings as a result of this policy.

North Korea

Ling also shared her experience in North Korea with the audience, recalling her amazement that she was able to enter the country. She posed as a medical assistant during a health mission.

When she entered the country, Ling was stripped of her cell phone because they were "at war" and "the U.S. can detect cell phones," she was told.

"I knew I was going to be the only American in the country," Ling said. But despite all the precautions the government took to ensure Ling was legitimate, they didn't Google her, she said. If they had, North Korea would have discovered she was a reporter.

Ling said during her trip she found a country that "remains defiant (to) the rest of the world." There were only two television stations, propaganda across the board and there was no Internet. Yet the North Koreans were oblivious to their lack of freedom.

"It was really a fascinating experience," Ling said about her time in the country she had longed to get to, but the one she wanted to leave the most.

Advice

The correspondent urged the audience to allow the world to be their teacher, to step outside their comfort zone, travel and learn about the international community, but also realize there are atrocities occurring right "in our own backyard" that need to be stopped.

She left the audience with one final thought about righting the wrongs in the world.

"Now that you know, you can't pretend you didn't," Ling told the crowd, which responded with a standing ovation.

RELATED LINKS:

Lisa Ling National Geographic video series
Lisa Ling on Going Inside Columbia Drug War
Q&A with Lisa Ling

RECOMMENDED READINGS:

"Mother, Daughter, Sister, Bride: Rituals of Womanhood" by Lisa Ling and Joanne B. Eicher.
"Cool Women" by Lisa Ling, Dawn Chipman, Mari Florence and Naomi Wax.