I am so attracted to smarts and by those standards Malcolm Gladwell is a complete babe. God this man is brilliant. Absolutely Brilliant -and to me brilliance is beautiful. Actually it's a little known fact that Malcolm is actually beautiful. All of the press imagery that he chooses to use accentuates his oddness, but when viewed directly, with no media separating you from him, all you see is his elegance, un-manipulated by press. I wonder if Mr. Gladwell thinks that being ugly makes you look smarter.
Last night Mr. Gladwell was speaking at the Toronto reference Library. He was interviewed by Eleanor Wachtel in celebration of Jamaica's 50 years of independence. I don't know if was the humidity or an homage, but Ms. Wachtel wore her hair in complete afro, and it seemed to be in honour of Mr. Gladwell. This did not detract from her brilliance, or her beauty, but added to it. Giving character to her gentle, poignant, questions.
I am going to share my favourite story of the evening. Malcolm was speaking about the origins of his family. He tells the story of his family origins. He tells of a pretty Nigerian slave coming off the boat in Jamaica and being bought by a white landowner who fell for her beauty and bought her to fulfill the role of mistress. From this union children of mixed race are created who gain priviledge in Jamaica because of their white content. He notes that his family essentially lives a life of priviledge because of a relationship that likely started off as unconsenting. Malcolm finds that interesting and holds no prejudice to his ancestors or the time and culture they existed in. When asked by Eleanor what meaning this holds for him, that his family was essentially started from a rape. Malcolm responds: "It reminds me of the arbitrariness of priviledge. People should have some humility about their accomplishments." How beautiful.
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