Student Activist Speaks Out
by Rebecca Lewis
“I was afraid going to school because the Taliban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools.” Malala Yousafzai
If the Taliban had told you that you were banned from attending school because of your race or gender, what would you do? Would you stand and fight for your education, putting your life on the line, or would you just let things be? 15 year old Malala Yousafzai chose to fight, and risked her life in the process.
Malala is a schoolgirl and activist in Mingora, a town in the Swat District of Pakistan, a region that is largely controlled by the Taliban and home to much violence. In 2008, the Taliban banned girls in Swat from attending school. While many dropped out in fear or moved, Malala stayed because she believed in her right to an education, even speaking publicly about education rights for girls. She cites her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, as her inspiration. An education advocate himself, Yousafzai has always been supportive of what his daughter does.
In early 2009, at the age of 11, Malala began to publish a blog called “The Diary of a Pakistani Girl” with the BBC. Doing so was incredibly brave, especially since she chose to write it after all of the female teachers at her father’s schools were too afraid to. They all feared the ramifications from the Taliban if they found out who was writing the diary. So to protect her identity, Malala wrote under the pseudonym “Gul Makai.” The dairy was published online on BBC Urdu and also appeared in print in Pakistani newspapers.
In her diary, Malala chronicled her everyday life in the Swat Valley. It revealed a lot into what was going on in the area at the time and provided insight into the mind of a girl forced to grow up too fast. She wrote about how many schools closed or were destroyed, how she felt let down by her government and army, how she was afraid every day. But in many ways, the diary showed that, as former editor of the BBC Urdu Mirza Waheed puts it, “She was just the girl who wanted to go to school.”
In 2011, Malala was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize by South African Civil Rights activist Desmond Tutu. Her identity as the BBC blogger became widely known since Tutu mentioned that she had used international media. Later that year, she was awarded the first National Youth Peace Prize, now renamed the Malala Youth Peace Prize in her honor, by the Pakistan government. Although Malala had been featured in few New York Times videos, this award was what truly brought her to prominence in Pakistan. It was also what put her on the Taliban’s radar.
After winning the award, Malala began to receive international attention, meeting with President Obama’s special envoy to speak to local politicians about children’s rights. She continued publicly advocating for girls’ education under her own name through Facebook and speeches. She also expressed her desire to become a politician to help bring change.
The Taliban threatened Malala several times, and the Taliban is not known for idle threats. Over four years, they had destroyed hundreds of schools and used acid attacks that disfigured their victims to discourage girls from attending school, not to mention all the other violence that they are responsible for and that Malala witnessed. But Malala was not fazed; she continued to speak out. In a T.V. interview, Malala once said of the Taliban: “Even if they come to kill me, I will tell them what they are doing is wrong, that education is our basic right.”
On October 9, 2012, the Taliban acted upon their threats. As Malala rode home that afternoon, two gunman stopped her bus and shot her twice, point-blank, once in the head and once in the neck for advocating women’s rights and promoting Western ideals and secularism. She survived the attack and was flown to Britain to receive intensive care. The response around the world was shock, outrage, and sadness. In Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari vowed that his government would continue to support education for women, adding “she is the true face of Pakistan.”
Now, Malala has a titanium plate in her skull and a cochlear implant, but aside from those, there is no longer serious, permanent damage. She is already walking and talking.
Malala has since stated that she will continue her activism, despite the Taliban’s attempted assassination and its continued threats against her life. In a recent interview, she said “God has given me this new life… I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child, to be educated.” In that spirit, the Malala Fund was created by Vital Voices to help support girls’ education around the globe. Malala and her father are both board members for the fund and will play a large role in deciding where the money goes.
In addition, Malala is a contender for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year and has been officially nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. The United Nations now recognizes November 10 as Malala day.
Since the age of 11, Malala has been on the front lines, risking her life as an activist for girls’ education in Pakistan. She has been an inspiration to many children. One young girl wrote to her on Facebook saying, “please stay with us. We need girls like you for the betterment of Pakistan.”
But in a country like the United States, the right to education is something that is often taken for granted. “I expect it [education] to be there every day, Monday through Friday,” said senior Brian Carbone. This view is what most students share. However, when the students were asked how they would react if their rights to education were taken away from them, they agreed that they did, in fact, appreciate their education, even if they did not always show it. “We’re lucky,” said senior Cressa Vidad.
“I was afraid going to school because the Taliban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools.” Malala Yousafzai
If the Taliban had told you that you were banned from attending school because of your race or gender, what would you do? Would you stand and fight for your education, putting your life on the line, or would you just let things be? 15 year old Malala Yousafzai chose to fight, and risked her life in the process.
Malala is a schoolgirl and activist in Mingora, a town in the Swat District of Pakistan, a region that is largely controlled by the Taliban and home to much violence. In 2008, the Taliban banned girls in Swat from attending school. While many dropped out in fear or moved, Malala stayed because she believed in her right to an education, even speaking publicly about education rights for girls. She cites her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, as her inspiration. An education advocate himself, Yousafzai has always been supportive of what his daughter does.
In early 2009, at the age of 11, Malala began to publish a blog called “The Diary of a Pakistani Girl” with the BBC. Doing so was incredibly brave, especially since she chose to write it after all of the female teachers at her father’s schools were too afraid to. They all feared the ramifications from the Taliban if they found out who was writing the diary. So to protect her identity, Malala wrote under the pseudonym “Gul Makai.” The dairy was published online on BBC Urdu and also appeared in print in Pakistani newspapers.
In her diary, Malala chronicled her everyday life in the Swat Valley. It revealed a lot into what was going on in the area at the time and provided insight into the mind of a girl forced to grow up too fast. She wrote about how many schools closed or were destroyed, how she felt let down by her government and army, how she was afraid every day. But in many ways, the diary showed that, as former editor of the BBC Urdu Mirza Waheed puts it, “She was just the girl who wanted to go to school.”
In 2011, Malala was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize by South African Civil Rights activist Desmond Tutu. Her identity as the BBC blogger became widely known since Tutu mentioned that she had used international media. Later that year, she was awarded the first National Youth Peace Prize, now renamed the Malala Youth Peace Prize in her honor, by the Pakistan government. Although Malala had been featured in few New York Times videos, this award was what truly brought her to prominence in Pakistan. It was also what put her on the Taliban’s radar.
After winning the award, Malala began to receive international attention, meeting with President Obama’s special envoy to speak to local politicians about children’s rights. She continued publicly advocating for girls’ education under her own name through Facebook and speeches. She also expressed her desire to become a politician to help bring change.
The Taliban threatened Malala several times, and the Taliban is not known for idle threats. Over four years, they had destroyed hundreds of schools and used acid attacks that disfigured their victims to discourage girls from attending school, not to mention all the other violence that they are responsible for and that Malala witnessed. But Malala was not fazed; she continued to speak out. In a T.V. interview, Malala once said of the Taliban: “Even if they come to kill me, I will tell them what they are doing is wrong, that education is our basic right.”
On October 9, 2012, the Taliban acted upon their threats. As Malala rode home that afternoon, two gunman stopped her bus and shot her twice, point-blank, once in the head and once in the neck for advocating women’s rights and promoting Western ideals and secularism. She survived the attack and was flown to Britain to receive intensive care. The response around the world was shock, outrage, and sadness. In Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari vowed that his government would continue to support education for women, adding “she is the true face of Pakistan.”
Now, Malala has a titanium plate in her skull and a cochlear implant, but aside from those, there is no longer serious, permanent damage. She is already walking and talking.
Malala has since stated that she will continue her activism, despite the Taliban’s attempted assassination and its continued threats against her life. In a recent interview, she said “God has given me this new life… I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child, to be educated.” In that spirit, the Malala Fund was created by Vital Voices to help support girls’ education around the globe. Malala and her father are both board members for the fund and will play a large role in deciding where the money goes.
In addition, Malala is a contender for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year and has been officially nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. The United Nations now recognizes November 10 as Malala day.
Since the age of 11, Malala has been on the front lines, risking her life as an activist for girls’ education in Pakistan. She has been an inspiration to many children. One young girl wrote to her on Facebook saying, “please stay with us. We need girls like you for the betterment of Pakistan.”
But in a country like the United States, the right to education is something that is often taken for granted. “I expect it [education] to be there every day, Monday through Friday,” said senior Brian Carbone. This view is what most students share. However, when the students were asked how they would react if their rights to education were taken away from them, they agreed that they did, in fact, appreciate their education, even if they did not always show it. “We’re lucky,” said senior Cressa Vidad.
