Pictures of my trip to Stockholm and London

"If I had the opportunity to speak to the world leaders, I think at first I would not speak at all. Instead, I would take with me a newborn baby deep in sleep. I would walk before each of them so they could see the baby breathe a breath or two. Then I would say, “You have just looked into the face of peace. Leaders of today’s world, when you plan your budget for world hunger, please be sure this baby has enough to eat. When you make your bombs blow up, and maim, and kill, please rearrange them so none of them hurt this baby. When you sell your wares, buy your weapons, think of this child’s perfect face and remember to keep it unscratched. When you imprison your enemies and cage them, remember this child’s easy motions. Then ask yourself why any mother’s child should be less free than this child.”

Then when one of the leaders would ask me, as I’m sure one of them would, “Who is this child who deserves such consideration?”, I’d turn to them and say: “This child is Irish, sir, a little child from Belfast. No, this child comes from Lebanon, his family was massacred. No, this is a Black child from the Bronx. No, a Third World baby whose country I do not know. No, sir, this is your baby and your baby’s baby and forever on. This child is the past and this child is the present. You will decide if this child is the future.”

- Anonymous teenager’s entry in the World’s Peace Essay Contest