I tweeted this on 20 April 2020 in the middle of the first lockdown. I was thinking about the inequality I saw all around me, about the fear and the hope.  Ever since then, these words have been finding their way back to me. Immediately, they were picked up by the journalist Peggy Noonan writing in her column in the Wall Street Journal and from there they’ve gone all around the world in many languages. They’ve been featured in hundreds of newspapers and magazines and memes. George Takei tweeted it out and Oprah cited it on her SuperSoul Podcast and, most surreally, I’ve had people quote it back to me not realizing I said it. It’s surreal how this thought has become part of a global conversation and this moment in our history. For me, this proves how universal inequality is—the yachts and rowing boats, the haves and have-nots. Even more importantly, the sharing of these words of mine and the way folk are adapting them, signals a wider desire to challenge inequality and make our world a fairer place.

Director Peter Hedges saw my words on the front of a cinema in NYC mid lockdown. They linked some thinking for him and he started work on a feature film on zoom. He got in touch with me to discuss the quote and ask my permission to use it. ‘The Same Storm’ is now an actual movie starring actors including Judith Light, Sandra Oh and Elaine May.