Queen Rania, A Vision And a YouTube Visionary

When you think of online video, sweeping social change and royalty probably aren’t the first two things that come to mind.  But thanks to a real, actual Queen setting out to bring the citizens of world a little closer together, that — and a lot of other things — may change sooner than we think.

Her Majesty Queen Rania al Abdullah of Jordan, the wife of King Abdullah II, has been a prominent face in international politics for several years now, with her tireless efforts to aid women and children in her country, the region, and the world.  She is gorgeous, eloquent, educated and passionate, and as far back as 2005, she was already getting the No. 80 slot on Forbes’ list of most powerful women.  But this March, something happened to bring Queen Rania to the world’s stage in an entirely new way.

She hit YouTube. 

YouTube just awarded Queen Rania its first Visionary Award, an honor for individuals who use the platform for positive social change, for her efforts to use online video to promote cross-cultural understanding between the Arab and the Western worlds.  Sure, our respective cultures have a long way to go before we “get” each other.  But this is the kind of vision we can all start spreading around today.

This March, Queen Rania released a simple black-and-white video entitled Send Me Your Stereotypes, in which she invited YouTubers to send her their questions as well as any stereotypes they might have heard about Arab life, so that she could address them and show Netizens the real Arab world.

“Change,” she says, “begins in each one of us, and our willingness to reach out to each other.”

It’s a lovely idea.  But what’s impressive is the followup.  Queen Rania took on some tough questions about women’s rights and “honor” killings, shed a light on the forgotten victims of terrorism, and gave some Middle-Eastern American comedians a forum to share just how stupid some of the stuff people say to them is.  There’s also a cross-cultural musical collaboration, a lesson on the many Arab discoveries our world takes for granted, and a heartbreakingly sweet demonstration of how being human has no nationality.

No, it’s not going to singlehandedly change Arab-Western relations.  But it may get people thinking, and equally importantly, it’s brought an extraordinary woman into the spotlight.  Queen Rania would be impressive just for the work she’s accomplished in Jordan alone, which include revolutionizing child abuse laws, establishing a microloan foundation for struggling entrepreneurs, and fighting for women’s rights.  But with the YouTube campaign, she’s become a new face of the modern Arab world: a woman who treasures her culture and her faith, who sees how far her nation — in some respects– has to go, but who wants to neither apologize nor ingratiate, but rather to exchange and illuminate.

This from a woman whose title brings with it no official role or responsibilities.  Makes you feel a little inadequate, doesn’t it?