I’m disappointed, I was told I’d meet some Kennedies!
You should know that among the British, being forced to watch a film in which people say how great you are is actually considered cruel and inhumane treatment. We are a people of the firm handshake. If we’re feeling particularly effusive we may say ‘Well done’, but that’s generally followed by something like ‘You bastard’. In case the recipient becomes inappropriately giddy.
And so I am feeling very shaken, honestly, and I’m going to try and express why I feel so emotional about this award. And I’m going to try and do that quite briefly because no one wants to hear from Nancy Pelosi more than I do.
So, briefly then, on the top floor of my house in Edinburgh is a framed poster from Robert Kennedy’s presidential run. And I bought it from a memorabilia store in DC during my first ever Harry Potter tour in the states. And I bought it of course because Robert Kennedy has been, since my teens, one of my greatest heroes. We overlapped on this earth for only three years. So I know him by his legacy, and by the many biographies I’ve read.
Robert Kennedy embodied everything I most admire in a human being. He was morally and physically courageous. And like Churchill, I believe that courage is the foremost of the virtues because it guarantees all the others. He looked beyond the invisible, that powerful boundaries that can insulate people of privilege from the rest of the world. And he looked into those dark corners where poverty and discrimination and injustice breed. He was a man of empathy and action. And he brought about real change, and he continues to inspire people beyond the boundaries of his own country. And I’m not sure we can ask much more of any politician or indeed any human being.
Having said all of that, I do understand the very human desire not to go poking into too many dark corners. As you’ve just seen on the film, I experienced that feeling myself when I saw a picture of a small child screaming through wire in a British news paper. And I went to turn the page. Now, I’m not usually very good with dates or counting, as anyone who would like to check the shifting numbers of house elves at Hogwarts can confirm, but I always know exactly how long ago it was that I saw that picture because I was pregnant with my youngest child at the time, and she turns fifteen this January. I was very ashamed of my impulse, and so I turned back and I thought, ‘If it’s as bad as it looks, you have to do something about it’. And I read the accompanying article, which was by an undercover reporter, and it was bad. And so I knew I had to do something about it. And I began writing letters. And then I met many experts in the field. And that lead to the founding of my NGO Lumos, which aims to end child institutionalisation.
I think it isn’t widely enough understood, as Roger said on the film, that 80% of the children living in so called orphanages worldwide has at least one living parent. Research shows us that even well run institutions have catastrophic effects on child health and development. Statistics show us that one in five will have a criminal record, one in seven will enter the sex trade, and one in ten will kill themselves. We know that many institutions are hotbeds of abuse. And we understand that parents are pressured, and sometimes even tricked, into giving up their children on the promise of food, healthcare, and education that they know isn’t available anywhere else in their communities. Now I’ve often been asked why this issue, and my answer is there are few people on earth more vulnerable than a child who’s been taken from their family and hidden from mainstream society. I’ve now met children with attachment disorders so severe that they will crawl into the lap of any stranger who smiles at them. I’ve seen profoundly ill children lying three in a bed with minimal human contact, and no stimulation. And I’ve stood in roomfulls of babies who’ve learnt not to cry.
Now, there is good news, believe it or not. And the good news is that this is an entirely man made problem, and we can fix it. That is good news. We have to have hope here. And it is fixable, as long as we have the individual and the political will. Incredibly it is cheaper to support children in their own family than it is to warehouse them in this way. And most importantly of all. The outcomes for children are hugely improved if they’re brought up in loving family care. And that include foster care. And we can all make small changes to bring about that outcome by making sure we never donate to so called orphanages and we don’t volunteer in them. So I’m very, very proud and grateful to all of our incredible Lumos staff around the world. We’re now providing support on deinstitutionalisation to 50 countries globally. And we’ve so far helped just under 50,000 children directly. Either moving them from institutions into loving families, often their own, or preventing them entering the institution in the first place. And I cover all core costs of Lumos, so all donations go directly to programs that help children.
Can I just say, this speech is full of typos, so whoever got it on the silent auction, send it to me and I’ll copy edit it for you. It’s really annoying me as I read through. Anyway. I’m nearly there.
I didn’t know the sex of the baby I was carrying when I first read about that cage child, but I did know that if it was a boy, I would name him Robert, after Robert Kennedy. And in fact she became Mackenzie and I became Robert. When I was thinking up a pen name for the crime series that has been one of the great joys of my writing life I took the name Robert Galbraith in tribute to my political hero. So I’m currently just a few pages away from completing JK’s thirteenth and Robert’s fifth novel. And if I hadn’t come to New York to accept this award I would have finished it this week. And I should say that I enter a state that can best be described as feral when I’m in the final stages of a book, so one of the many extraordinary things about this evening is that I’m standing in front of you not looking like a cave dwelling hermit. And for this my husband thanks you. So I just want to say thank you. This truly is one of the most extraordinary honours I could have possibly been given, and I shouldn’t ask for anything else while I’m standing here, but I will. If you would like to know more about how to help some of the worlds most vulnerable children, please visit wearelumos.org.
Thank you.
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