Malala’s Movement: An Inspiration for Courage, Endurance, and Compassion
By Kelly He, A&M Consolidated High School
Malala Yousafzai once said, “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world”. Indeed, she proved that statement to be true. Her passion on the women’s education movement as a tool for liberation is groundbreaking as she lives in an area of conflict and turmoil where women had been oppressed for generations and lacked access to healthcare, education, employment and much more. Her bravery supported others when her society was designed to tear her down. Her movement inspired people around the world for courage, endurance, and compassion.
Born in 1997 in Swat Valley, Pakistan, where, by default, a girl is seen as less valuable than a boy, Malala grew up during a time of extreme conflict with an unstable government and rising opposition forces. Malala’s father, a private school owner, was determined to give her every opportunity that a male would have. Malala was fortunate enough to have the privilege to attend school. But the school did not last long and was dramatically taken away from her at the age of eleven. Taliban, a terrorist organization, took over the country, stationed military troops to watch over the villagers, and enforced brutal regulations on the Pakistani and especially the women. Malala was forced to leave her school after the Taliban controlled her town. While boys’ schools remained open, the Taliban closed more than 200 girls’ schools in Pakistan.
After months of being away from her school, her education, and her community, Malala could no longer stand by in silence in the face of injustice. Malala, furiously, “Speaking out on behalf of education for girls. Wanting, with all her heart, to go to school” (McAuliffe, 2012). Malala championed that girls have the same opportunities as boys for education and school is a symbol of equality because it is the foundation for any child’s development. Malala understands that she must fight but not succumb to violence and emotional attacking despite growing up in an environment of brutality.
Named after Malalai of Maiwand, a female national folk hero of Afghanistan who rallied local fighters against the British troops at the 1880 Battle of Maiwand, Malala was destined to make a change and become a leader. Malala sought a peaceful solution to the problem and fearlessly fought without hurting others by standing out publicly against the Taliban multiple times. Malala was a symbol of the kindness, resourcefulness, bravery, and courage of the people of Pakistan.
Realizing the profound impacts of social media communications on our lives and the world around us, Malala fought her voice of equal rights to women who had been silenced for too long via communication tools. In January 2009, Malala launched blogging under a pseudonym about education for the BBC Urdu website. Malala recognized the necessity to communicate with others about her own situation and shared with the world about the injustice and suffering happening in the Swat Valley. She protested on her own to the world so powerfully without much-needed resources. She realized that communication technology makes words globally influential with easily accessible resources. It opens a transformative channel of open-minded communication that is instantaneous without any biased political, authority and governmental controls, particularly from those who want to conceal.
Malala’s blogs became really popular and spread quickly like wildfire around the world. Many individuals, organizations and government agencies were deeply touched by Malala’s story and lent much-needed support and resources to her movement. Malala was no longer alone fighting the battle by herself; she was on the side of the thousands around the world following her blogs. The Taliban tried but failed to silence Malala, who had become Pakistan’s most celebrated supporter of girls’ education.
Women were no longer silenced. With the power of freely sharing information, Malala was a trailblazing women’s rights advocate. Her blogs were like influencer amplifiers and spread her stunting messages and courage to people around the world. People were shockingly moved by the unbelievable situations that many girls were going through in Pakistan. As an active and popular BBC blogger, Malala has become increasingly renowned. With the Pakistani army moving back into Swat Valley, most of the Taliban was forced out of the region and the Taliban’s control got substantially weakened. Malala was able to return to her father’s classroom.
Despite knowing the constant retaliation from the Taliban, Malala still persistently and publicly campaigned for girls to go back to school. Her bravery, courage, and movement rewarded her Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize in 2011. However, as Malala’s fame rose, so did her negative reputation with the Taliban. The increasing influence of Malala’s fight for women’s rights angered the Taliban and provoked them to kill Malala. In a surprising turn of events in 2012, when Malala was getting out of the school, a masked Taliban gunman shouted “Who is Malala? Speak up!
Otherwise, I will shoot you all!”. Malala bravely stood up- recognizing the need to protect those around her. Malala was shot in her head and her two friends were wounded. Fortunately, Malala survived a deadly Taliban bullet in her skull after treatment in England with the help of the British government. Malala’s journey from near-death attack to recovery did not dissuade Malala from giving up her passion to fight for girls’ education. She always knew that her work was dangerous, but she knew that the fight for women’s education is a cause that is much bigger than herself.
Instead of giving up, Malala came back from the recovery with an even stronger passion to fight for women’s education. The Taliban soldiers tried to change “[Malala’s] aims… [but] nothing changed in [her] life except…[that] hopelessness died, strength, power, and courage [were] born” (Johnston, 2013). Malala’s experience, bravery, and movement received more recognition and attracted more people around the world to join her fight for women’s education. These further aggravated the Taliban’s intention to silence and murder Malala. However, Malala was fearlessly determined and persisted in giving a voice to other girls for the right to education. Malala’s actions planted the seeds for world-wide battles for girls’ education.
To help more young children gain access to education, Malala started the Malala Fund in 2013. Over 130 million girls between the age of 6 to 17 worldwide are out of school to work, take care of younger siblings, or just because the rights of education were taken away from them. The Malala Fund is dedicated to “fighting to give back to girls what poverty, war and discrimination tried to take away” (https://www.malala.org/). The Malala Fund ensures young girls to twelve years of free and safe education.
This fund is to provide financial supports of girls’ education to disadvantaged places around the world. The organization also delivers the stories of other young people who are fighting for a right to education and inspires young girls for changes. The Malala Fund represents women oppressed by religion, misogyny, and gender segregation, and shows other young girls’ story of “girls [being] neglected, denied education, physically mistreated, [and] sexually abused…” (https://www.malala.org/). This fund also empowers young girls around the world to fight for what they believe in and keep going to school. Not only does Malala make a change, but she inspires others to make one too.
Malala also wrote several books, including Malala’s Magic Pencil, a children’s book to inform the young generation about her situation and I Am Malala, to spread her story out to the public. Her protests help spark equal women’s education around the world. Because her fearless advocacy for human rights and women education, Malala received many notable awards, including the Sakharov Prize, Glamour Award, Mother Teresa Award, Shorty Award for Teen Hero, Simone de Beauvoir Prize, UN Prize in the field of Human Rights, Ambassador of Conscience Award, and Goodreads Choice Award.
Most notably, Malala received the Nobel Peace Prize for her wanting of young people for the right of education in 2014. However, Malala is a true hero not because she got shot, nor because she won the Nobel Peace Prize. She was a hero before she was famous- when she fearlessly fought for the right to women’s education in her hometown; when she made all the determined efforts so that she could tell the world about the injustice and suffering happening in the Swat Valley; when she started her blog to educate others on what was going on around the world.
Despite facing many extreme challenges and dangers, including the deadly shooting, Malala’s passion for her cause inspires her to keep fighting and moves the world for human rights and women’s education. Malala’s story goes far beyond herself. As a young woman, Malala is a leader that touched the lives of people around the world and inspires everyone for courage, endurance, and compassion.
Bibliography
Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Responding to Malala — The Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct 29, 2012
Ian Johnston, Malala Yousafzai: Being shot by Taliban made me stronger, NBC News, Jul 13, 2013
Malala Yousafzai & Christina Lamb, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, October 8, 2013
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai https://www.biography.com/people/malala-yousafzai-21362253 https://www.malala.org/malalas-story https://www.britannica.com/biography/Malala-Yousafzai https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2014/yousafzai/facts/
