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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Five faces you should know from Time’s 100 most influential people of
2024 list
By Leah Asmelash, CNN
Updated:
6:30 AM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
Source: CNN
Who are the 100 most influential people in the world? Every year, TIME
Magazine has an answer.
TIME released its list of the for 2024 on Wednesday. The annual list,
which asks cultural and political icons to highlight the changemakers
of the past year, features dozens of athletes, entertainers, artists
and politicians.
Some names are not surprising. Former baseball star Alex Rodriguez
wrote about quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Comedian Amy Poehler wrote
about Maya Rudolph. Transgender activist Raquel Willis wrote about
actor Elliot Page. Beninese music legend Angélique Kidjo wrote about
Nigerian artist Burna Boy, who in turn wrote about rapper 21 Savage.
Dua Lipa, Taraji P. Henson, and Coleman Domingo also all have a spot on
the list.
But some names might be less familiar. Here’s a look at some of the
people you may not know.
Shawn Fain, UAW President
During last fall’s auto workers strike, , who had been sworn in as
president of the United Auto Workers union less than six months prior,
told his fellow auto workers something that stuck with President Joe
Biden for months.
“In this union, the members are the highest authority,” Fain said,
according to Biden. “In this country, the people are the highest
authority.”
Fain, and all the work he did in winning historic wage increases for
the UAW, represent the “hard-won success” that unions had in 2023,
Biden states.
With the UAW’s lead, change has been made throughout the auto-maker
industry. After the UAW’s win, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai —
non-union companies — also . But even with the strike over, the UAW
and Fain are still fighting, aiming for a
“They remind us that when unions win, all workers benefit,” Biden
says.
Motaz Azaiza, Palestinian photographer
At just 25 years of age, Motaz Azaiza is the youngest person on this
year’s TIME list. For four months, the Palestinian photographer was
“the world’s eyes and ears in his native Gaza,” posting pictures
and chronicling the war to millions of followers on Instagram, writes
TIME staff writer Yasmeen Serhan.
“Families displaced from homes, women mourning loved ones, a man
trapped beneath the rubble. His images offered a glimpse into Gaza that
few in the international press—which has been all but barred from
accessing the Strip—could rival,” Serhan writes.
He did so despite the great risks facing journalists in the area.
Azaiza evacuated in January, but the war has not slowed. Last month,
eyewitnesses said Israeli forces forced Palestinian journalists and
health workers to to their underwear. Just last week, several
journalists — including one working for CNN — were injured in an .
“It’s better for me not to process, because if I process what I
experienced or what I’ve been through, believe me I will not feel
OK,” Azaiza . “I’m a man looking for a solution now. We need to
stop this.”
Jenni Hermoso, Spanish soccer player
When Jenni Hermoso and the Spanish Women’s National Team won the FIFA
World Cup last summer, the last thing the forward expected was a kiss
from her boss.
And yet, that’s what happened. As the world watched, Luis Rubiales,
president of the Spanish soccer federation, grabbed Hermoso’s face
and kissed her — sparking a worldwide conversation about sexual
harassment and consent. Rubiales was banned by FIFA for three years,
and in January, in a sexual assault probe against the former president.
Writing for TIME, American soccer player Mana Shim praised Hermoso’s
bravery.
“Hermoso courageously told her truth, over and over again, despite
efforts to silence her,” Shim said.
Sakshi Malik, Indian wrestler
Sakshi Malik is India’s first and only female wrestler to win an
Olympic medal — taking home the bronze at 2016’s Olympics in Rio.
But late last year, she quit the sport.
Malik was part of an outspoken group demanding the arrest and
resignation of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, an important member of
parliament and former chief of India’s wrestling federation who had
been accused of sexually harassing women athletes, explains Nisha
Pahuja, a documentary filmmaker.
lasted throughout 2023, eliciting attention from around the world.
Finally, Singh was charged by Delhi police with assault, stalking and
sexual harassment, all of which he denied. Though he was removed as the
chief of the wrestling foundation, Singh was replaced by his close ally
and business partner late last year, only reigniting the controversy.
“Upcoming female wrestlers will also face exploitation,” Malik
said, in a press conference in December, following the replacement
announcement. “If (Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s) business partner
and a close aide is elected as the new president, I quit wrestling.”
The moment was an “emotional, public, and very brave act of
defiance,” writes Pahuja.
“She did not, however, quit the battle,” she wrote. “Her light,
and the light of all those standing against harassment, continues to
shine.”
Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russia’s opposition leader
The widow of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who died in
February, Yulia Navalnaya has quickly picked up where her husband left
off.
Just three days after his death, she posted an eight-minute long video
to her husband’s social media, : “I don’t have the right to
surrender. I ask you to share with me in rage.”
Navalny’s death sparked protests across Europe, particularly in
capital cities such as Berlin and Paris, where gatherers stood outside
Russian embassies “Putin is a killer” and “Putin to the Hague.”
Through it all, Navalnaya has stood firm, calling her husband’s death
a “” and acting as a unifying figure among Russian opposition
forces.
Vice President Kamala Harris, writing for TIME, called Navalnaya “a
courageous fighter” for “democratic values.”
“Navalnaya has vowed to continue her husband’s fight for justice
and the rule of law, giving renewed hope to those working against
corruption and for a free, democratic Russia,” Harris wrote. “And
in so doing, she demonstrates exceptional selflessness and strength.”
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