Little Amal, the internationally-celebrated 12-foot-tall puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl, will be arriving in Birmingham, Alabama on October 11-12, 2023 as part of her epic 6,000-mile journey across the United States this fall.
"Jazz is democratic because everyone has a chance to add their own voice to the music. I want to keep passing that on. It's the only original art form created in this country and now it’s celebrated in so many countries around the world. If it’s not passed down it may disappear."
"Looking back, it’s easier to see the moments that were crystallizing for me.... One friend asked me what I was going to do, and I said, 'I don’t know, but I know I want to make a difference.'"
"I don’t understand why race is so complicated... But I know that we don’t learn unless we ask questions and have conversations. That is what opens people’s minds — having an encounter and learning from each other."
"All of us were on this pilgrimage to advocate for positive social change... and in a way it became a touchstone for making future commitments geared toward finding ways that I could make a difference in my community."