TEDxSMU Teasers

TEDxSMU speaker Rena Pederson wants the whole world to know Aung San Suu Kyi

Chances are, even if you've heard of Noble Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, you probably don't know to pronounce her name. But Rena Pederson is on a mission to change that.

"Think of Unsung Hero — Aung San — then Suu, and Kyi, which is pronounced like Chee in Cheeto," Pederson says. "When she was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, half the house leaders mispronounced her name, and so did the president. I could have died. I wish I could have given him my secret guide."

Pederson is award-winning journalist who spent more than 30 years at the Dallas Morning News before becoming a speech writer for the U.S. Department of State. She's traveled to Burma eight times and met with Suu Kyi twice. Currently, Pederson is working on a book titled The Burma Chronicles: Aung San Suu Kyi and the Struggle for the Soul of Burma.

"She is the most impressive human being I have ever met in my life," Pederson says of Kyi. "If she walked in the room, you would feel her."

Suu Kyi spent about 20 years under house arrest and is now a member of Parliament with hopes of running for president in 2015, when she will be 70 years old. "2015 will be a hinge moment," Pederson says. "She’s devoted most of her adult life to fighting for democracy. And the question is will she get to lead her country to better days? "

Pederson will share her experiences in Burma with the TEDxSMU crowd on October 19. She recently sat down to chat with us about Aung San Suu Kyi and her illustrious career in journalism.

CultureMap Dallas: When did you first become interested in Aung San Suu Kyi?

Rena Pederson: In 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize. I was fascinated by the description in the New York Times that she’d gone to Oxford, spoke four languages fluently, and was now locked up in her house for trying to bring democracy to Burma.

She couldn’t see her husband or her children, who were back in England. She mediated and exercised and played the piano for hours to bang out her frustration. I followed her for the next decade, and I thought, "What makes this woman tick?"

CM: How did you eventually get to interview her?

RP: It was one of the last projects I did for the Dallas Morning News. In 2003, I got smuggled in to see her. I can’t really tell you anymore than that because it involved a diplomatic person. It was my own little private adventure.

After I left, she was released briefly and then again put under house arrest with even harsher conditions. I was the last person allowed to interview her for seven years.

CM: What is she like?

RP: She is the most impressive human being I have ever met in my life. If she walked in the room, you would feel her. You would look up and say, "What was that?"
She has this incredible presence of character, principles and just this aura of strength.

CM: How does someone stay that resilient in the face of so much opposition?

RP: That’s what’s so intriguing about her. I think to understand Aung San Suu Kyi, you have to know her family tree. Her father was the George Washington of Burma.

"The protests in Burma were much more violent and bloody than the famous Tiananmen Square demonstrations, but most people don’t even know it happened," Pederson says.

He was a war hero, and he fought to get Burma independent from British rule. He was just forming the first democratic government in Burma after WWII when he was assassinated. Aung San Suu Kyi was only 2 years old.

Her mother also was this remarkable person. She was a wartime nurse who was an advocate for women and children. She went on to become the ambassador to India and a national figure in her own rite.

Aung San Suu Kyi grew up part of the time in India and went to school with the Ghandi children. Her genes, her upbringing and her Buddhist faith have given her a remarkable sense of strength and compassion.

CM: How did Kyi end up under house arrest?

RP: She was working on her doctorate and living in England with her husband and two children when her mother had a stroke. Suu Kyi packed her bags and took the next flight to Burma.

Just as she arrived, Burma was having widespread student-led demonstrations against the military party. It was August 8, 1988 — the year before the famous Tiananmen Square protest. The ones in Burma were much more violent and bloody, but most people don’t even know it happened because Burma is so much more isolated than China.

Protestors came to Aung San Suu Kyi in the hospital and they said, “You must help us. You are your father’s daughter. You need to take up his dream for freedom. We can’t do it alone.”

She started campaigning all over the country, and of course her life was threatened. But her party came out of nowhere and won the election for democracy. The military party locked up most of her party leaders and put her under house arrest. They couldn’t put her in prison because her father was so revered.

CM: What was the most memorable part about meeting Kyi in person?

RP: I still remember as we drove away from her compound, there she was standing on the steps of her house by herself, and then the gate closed. And I thought, I can leave and go, and she’s still in that house.

CM: What’s the biggest difference in media today versus 30 years ago, when your journalism career started?

RP: There are so many more sources of information. I’m still a devoted newspaper reader, but I am also online a lot of the time.

CM: Describe your perfect day.

RP: Being with my grandchildren. I love to see a child look at a flower and marvel. When I visit my grandchildren, I call it "going marveling." My second-place day would be anyplace in Italy or Provence.

CM: Did you always know you wanted to be a journalist?

RP: I actually did. I had my own little newspaper in grade school. I'd type out bulletins about my cat, Fluff.

CM: What are your words to live by?

RP: I believe in the Physican's Creed, "Do no harm." It's a good way to work as a journalist and just as a human being. It's almost a Buddhist idea too.

CM: What do you hope TEDxSMU attendees learn from your talk?

RP: I hope they come away with a new appreciation for the struggle for democracy in Burma and a new appreciation for what a remarkable, historical figure Aung San Suu Kyi is.

So many people know a lot about Nelson Mandela, or the Dali Lama, who also have won the Nobel Prize. But not a lot of people know about her.

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TEDxSMU is officially sold out, but the entire program will be live streamed on October 19, 9 am-6 pm.

Rena Pederson is on a mission to tell the world about Aung San Suu Kyi.

Photo courtesy of Press Club Dallas

Rena Pederson is on a mission to tell the world about Aung San Suu Kyi.

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Eco Warrior News

Dallas restaurants doing amazing little things for the environment

Southwest Airlines

Cute bamboo cup from Southwest Airlines

One unfortunate legacy left by the pandemic has been a huge increase in the use of plastics — setting back progress that was being made pre-pandemic.

Plastics are bad. They harm everything they touch: the environment, health, food security, and economies. But they're convenient, subsidized, and in some cases necessary.

Before the pandemic, a growing awareness had started to snowball regarding the negative impact of plastics, particularly plastic straws and single-use plastic containers — and it was significant enough to make the plastics industry very nervous.

"In the two years leading up to the pandemic, the public backlash against plastic was a major concern for industry leaders," says a story about plastics and the pandemic in The Guardian. "As a corporate executive remarked during an industry event early in 2019: 'We need to get the image of plastic in oceans out of the public’s mind. Otherwise, we could lose our social license to operate.'"

But then the pandemic came along, igniting mass hysteria about contagion, and suddenly, bans on single-use plastics that had been in the works were reversed in countries around the world: North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

“Overnight, plastics went from public enemy No. 1 to consumers asking for everything to have as much packaging as possible and to be single use," said one gleeful analyst for Shell Oil, who are a major plastics player.

The urgency of the plastics situation remains invisible to most people, lined up at the drive-thru for their coffee or Chick-Fil-A, piling up nearly 250 pounds of plastic waste every year. (That's what the average American amasses — more than any other country.)

But there are brave, pro-environment efforts being made by Dallas companies and organizations, big and small.

La Casita Bakeshop cup Revolutionary compostable cup at La Casita Bakeshop.Facebook

Dallas efforts
The Dallas restaurants and organizations listed below have taken steps to fight waste, even though it costs them money.

Plastic Free Lunch Day is November 22
Dallas ISD’s Food and Child Nutrition Services will participate in Plastic Free Lunch Day on November 22, to help reduce the amount of single-use plastic in school cafeterias.

Plastic Free Lunch Day was started by middle school students in Brooklyn. The initiative was such a success that it was adopted by all New York City public schools in 2022. The concept has since spread to public schools across the country — including Dallas ISD, which was the first in Texas to participate, when it joined up in 2022.

It creates an opportunity to educate students and the community on ways to positively impact the environment, including skipping plastic. Dallas school cafeterias will replace the plastic items they regularly use during lunch with biodegradable alternatives. (Plastic cutlery, cups, and straws will be available upon request for the crybabies.)

Southwest Airlines bamboo cup
Southwest Airlines Co., the Dallas-based airline, has introduced a new bamboo cup for inflight cold beverages, and a wood stir stick in place of a plastic stick. The airline expects the new items to reduce its inflight single-use plastics by more than 1.5 million pounds annually.

In July 2024, Southwest transitioned to a paper overwrap for its napkins made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled materials — fully eliminating plastic from this service item. The airline is making an effort to eliminate single-use plastics from inflight service by 2030.

La Casita Bakeshop compostable cups
La Casita Bakeshop, the award-winning bakery and cafe operation, recently debuted fabulous new cups that are 100 percent compostable, soil- and marine-biodegradable, breaking down naturally after 90 days, and made from natural materials.

"We are always trying to find ways to be more environmentally friendly and this is a big way we can," they said in their post announcing the new cups. "We just want to be proud of our paper trail and being a restaurant it's hard to do that."

Smoothie King biodegradable cups
Smoothie King, the Dallas-based smoothie chain, previously used styrofoam cups, but began testing a biodegradable cup in 2019. They now offer it as the default choice. They're using Vio Foam, specially made cups that biodegrade 92 percent in four years. They'll still accommodate whiny selfish customers who insist on getting a plastic cup instead, but their Vio foam cup not only helps the environment, it also keeps their smoothies cold a little longer.

Kate Weiser Recycle Box Program
Kate Weiser, the Dallas chocolatier, sells its gorgeous eye-catching bon-bons in a variety of boxes, from 4 pieces all the way up to 35 pieces. (OK, they'll sell them individually, too, but who goes to a chocolate shop and buys a single chocolate?) They have a program where you can bring your empty box to the store and get a refill and get 5 percent off. (Weiser amusingly calls it a "secret hack.")

Dude Sweet Chocolate freezer packaging
Dude Sweet Chocolate, the Oak Cliff chocolatier, has a next-level campaign in which they will accept cold-ship packaging you've received in the mail and re-use it. Say, for example, that you ordered an 8-pack of ice cream pints from Double Rainbow in San Francisco, and it arrived in a box with freezer packs and a foil liner. You can drop that packaging off at Dude Sweet's factory location at 1340 Inwood Rd., and they'll re-use it in one way or another when they're doing shipments of their chocolate. They'll take not only the freezer packs but the boxes, too.

Restaurant Beatrice repurposing programs
Restaurant Beatrice, the Cajun restaurant in Oak Cliff, has an entire suite of programs that address climate and environmental issues. Including: Composting, Re-Purposing of Oil (They have continuously recycled their fryer oil to be re-used as bio-diesel), and Repurposing of Single-Use Items by encouraging guests to return their mason jars and bring their own re-usable to-go boxes to limit single-use containers.

Note: Whether you're putting it in the blue bin or the gray bin, your plastic is not being recycled. The best course when it comes to plastic, especially single-use plastic, is to not use it at all.

sustainability