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Angelina Jolie continues to use her A-list platform for good. The 45-year-old star led a virtual TIME 100 Talk with Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate on Thursday, July 9. It was a wonderful effort to not only amplify Vanessa’s lessons, but for Angelina, herself, to expand her knowledge. At one point during the pair’s important discussion, Angelina opened up about her daughter Zahara Jolie-Pitt, calling the 15-year-old “an extraordinary African woman.”
“My daughter is from Ethiopia, one of my children,” Angelina said, “and I have learned so much from her. She is my family, but she is an extraordinary African woman and her connection to her country, her continent, is her own and it’s something I only stand back in awe of.” Vanessa whole-heartedly agreed, later tweeting: “Zahara is definitely an incredible African lady.” The proud mom adopted Zahara with Brad Pitt in 2005. They also share Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Shiloh, 13, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 11.
By the sphere of today’s social-media happy celeb standards, it’s fairly rare that Angelina opens up about her private life . However, in June she talked about her journey to adopting and motherhood. “In 2001, I was in a school program in Samlout [in Cambodia] playing blocks on the floor with a little kid and as clear as day I thought: ‘My son is here,’” the mother-of-six said. “A few months later I met baby Mad at an orphanage. I can’t explain it and am not one to believe in messages or superstition. But it was just real and clear.”
“‘Adoption’ and ‘orphanage’ are positive words in our home,” she said. “With my adopted children, I can’t speak of pregnancy, but I speak with much detail and love about the journey to find them and what it was like to look in their eyes for the first time.” The actress also stated how all adopted children are a “beautiful mystery” that come into people’s lives. “Learn from them,” she urged. “It’s the most amazing journey to share. They are not entering your world, you are entering each other’s worlds.”