American actor, filmmaker and activist, Edward Norton, has just helped fundraise over 390,000 dollars for a Syrian refugee whose story was shared via the popular Humans Of New York blog.
After being "moved to tears", Norton has launched an online fundraiser that has pulled in nearly $390,000, and counting, for a Syrian refugee and his two children who are set to relocate to Troy, Michigan. The nameless Syrian man came to mass attention when the following quote along with his photo was posted on HONY's Facebook,
I still think I have a chance to make a difference in the world. I have several inventions that I'm hoping to patent once I get to America. One of my inventions is being used right now on the Istanbul metro to generate electricity from the movement of the train. I have sketches for a plant that can fly for 48 hours without fuel. I've been thinking about a device that can predict earthquakes weeks before they happen. I just want to place to do my research. I learned today that I'm going to Troy, Michigan. I know nothing about it. I just hope that it's safe and that it's a place where they respect science. I just want to get back to work. I want to be a person again. I don't want the world to think I'm over. I'm still here.
Norton used CrowdRise.com to collect funds and has firmly stated his position on allowing such people into America by saying, "If we don't welcome people like this into our communities and empower his dream of making an impact with his life, then we're not the country we tell ourselves we are."
He then called for us to "reject the 'anti-human' voices that tell us to fear refugees and show this man and his family what Americans are really made of."
It seems that the Syrian man has also garnered recognition from President Obama who praised the "inspirational" inventor in a Facebook posting last Tuesday.
