Revolution 2.0

Egypt's Wael Ghonim: 'Revolutions Are Processes ... It Will Take Time'

by Mark Memmott

NPR

"For the first time in Egyptian modern history after 1952," he said, "30 million people took to the streets to vote ... and the result was a reflection of the people's choice."

What's more, he said, "revolutions are processees, not events. It will take time."

Revolution 2.0: The Power of the People Is Greater Than the People in Power: A Memoir

by Wael Ghonim

The revolutions that swept the Middle East in 2011 surprised and captivated the world. Brutal regimes that had been in power for decades were overturned by an irrepressible mass of freedom seekers. Now, one of the figures who emerged during the Egyptian uprising tells the riveting inside story of what happened and shares the keys to unleashing the power of crowds.

Wael Ghonim was a little-known, thirty-year-old Google executive in the summer of 2010 when he anonymously launched a Facebook page to protest the death of one Egyptian man at the hands of security forces. The page’s following expanded quickly and moved from online protests to a nonconfrontational movement.

The youth of Egypt made history: they used social media to schedule a revolution. The call went out to more than a million Egyptians online, and on January 25, 2011, Cairo’s Tahrir Square resounded with calls for change. Yet just as the revolution began in earnest, Ghonim was captured and held for twelve days of brutal interrogation. After he was released, he gave a tearful speech on national television, and the protests grew more intense. Four days later, the president of Egypt was gone.