I was deeply touched by the talk from Jehane Noujaim, a filmmaker and winner of the 2006 TED Prize, who created a documentary about Al Jazeera’s coverage of the Iraq war. It is interesting to see, first hand, the perspectives of those on the other side of the fence.

For so long I have watched mainstream media and [unfortunately] it was not until I read 3 Cups of Tea, did I truly see how much knowledge I was missing. To read the account of one man on the ground in northern Pakistan, before the tradegies of 9/11, tell readers what he saw. It was astonishing to see how different the perspectives were. On one hand you have mainstream media using the word WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) more than the word “The”! And from Greg Mortenson’s perspective the issue stems from the lack of education. PBS actually did a special on how mainstream media become the White House’s second voice in a special titled, Buying the War.

So here is Jehane Noujaim’s wish: to bring the world together for one day a year through the power of film. That day was today — May 10, 2008 — Pangea Day. A day where we think of this world as one body of mass, one mind with many cultures, one people living in this world to leave better than we came, one family helping each other and bridging the inequalities of the world.