A 10-year-old Syrian girl stepped off a boat in Boston Harbor on September 7th—a beacon of hope encountering a new land. Her name is Amal, and she was without parents, a stranger in a strange place, displaced from her home and everything she knew. But Little Amal was not alone; observing closely, she was surrounded by a sea of people who came to greet the 12-foot-tall puppet along with her three puppeteers. Two of the puppeteers were operating her arms with a third person inside of her ribcage on stilts who was also operating her expressions and turning her head. People from across the region came to welcome Amal to Boston where she began her journey across the United States. This journey is a walk that will bring her message of hope to 35 cities, across 6,000 miles, over a period of 2 months, ending on the Mexican border in early November. With each stop, she will be welcomed by arts communities with art projects, song, and dance.
Amal Walks Across America is produced by The Walk Productions in association with Handspring Puppet Company in partnership with the City of Boston. There were several events in the Boston area to celebrate Amal hosted by local arts organizations who, in a rare instance, came together for the occasion such as ArtsEmerson, the American Repertory Theater, Company One, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and Extinction Rebellion. Dayron Miles of American Repertory Theater said “Amal is going to leave us very soon, but we’re still going to be here in this network of trust. And these organizations having the opportunity to come together and the relationships that have been strengthened and built through this will still be here which means that we’re a more connected city, and a healthy city is one that’s in conversation with itself. I think her walk means that we get to be healthier after, and I think we all need that.”
Ronee Pinoy of ArtsEmerson said, “Being at Emerson, Chinatown is really our closest neighbor. It was so exciting to learn that Chinatown is also the site of former Little Syria and the history of deep relationships and organizing and collaboration between Syrians and Chinese folks in some of the early organizing around gentrification and fighting against gentrification. And that moment is going to be highlighted in the walk. I can’t say enough how much we are so honored and grateful to be welcomed into Chinatown. And very much our intent is that this walk is by and for Chinatown residents just as much as it is in celebration of this little girl–this Syrian little girl who’s visiting from afar.”
Amal has already completed a 5,000-mile trek across Europe where she was celebrated internationally, with her journey first beginning in July 2021 in Gaziantep, Turkey with her and her team walking all the way to the United Kingdom.
Amal began her U.S. walk in Boston arriving via schooner where she was met with Wampanoag dancers and singers welcoming her to the land. Then she made her way from there to Dewey Square, then on to Chinatown. David Greendeer, Master Wampanoag Tribal Administrator said of Amal, “I think just being able to welcome another person from another sovereign nation and let them know that we’re peaceful, that we’re welcoming people, but that she was also respectful to come in and dance with us as well and showed that reciprocated the welcome to us at the same time. So, it made my heart lift and made me feel really good.”
Lars Jan is an artist who worked with Arts Emerson to bring Amal to Boston and when asked what it meant to walk with Amal he responded “It felt particularly exciting because I’m half Afghan and my mother still works on girls’ education. We have a school that we run in Kabul, Afghanistan, and a huge percentage of my extended family are refugees, mostly fleeing the Soviet occupation. And most of them found various kinds of welcome in the United States in particular. And so, the refugee experience is really close to me. But also, in concert with that. I’m very aware of what it takes for local people who are already comfortable where they are to take in folks who are fleeing from somewhere and how remarkable and how moving that experience and powerful that experience can be, not only for the refugees but also for the people who are hosting and welcoming. And that’s been my favorite part–that’s been my version of the American story all along.”
Enrico Dau Yang We, the Associate Artistic Director for The Walk and the Director of Puppetry for Little Amal said, “I think there’s something that feels familiar about the idea of searching or not really feeling at home anywhere, but also feeling home in many places. I think that’s part of why I continue to do it because there’s something about the way that people come together, not just the audience, but also the team, the performers themselves, as well as all the infrastructure that exists around her. They’re all coming together for a very particular purpose, and it’s just to make sure that a little girl is not alone as she sort of traverses all these miles.”
This expressive puppet made of bent cane, aluminum, fiberglass, and foam– representing a child is bringing people from different backgrounds and places in life together to momentarily suspend disbelief in a celebration of hope to recognize displaced people around the world. Many people in the crowd had emotional responses to seeing Amal walk and dance with the various performers. People wiped away tears as they watched Little Amal interact with the lion dancers in Chinatown. It was clear that while Amal may mean something slightly different to every person who encounters her, she brought a sense of renewed hope and community-building to Boston that she will carry with her across the country.
