I am Malala.....
"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value."
~ Albert Einstein
"For unless you become like a little child, you will not inherit the Kingdom of God." Matthew 18:2-4
I want to become like Malala. (I have put the pertinent details about who she is below). I have been following her story on the news lately and it just overwhelms me. She has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, an honor that I hope is carried out. Not since Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King, Jr have we seen an activist who is for the people, who is working for change in her terrorist ridden world. Her bravery makes me wish that I could have that kind of courage to speak out. (happy update: today, October 10, 2014, Malala has received the Nobel prize for Peace!)
Malala is only 16 years old.
In our world today, I want to be Malala. You can be Malala. We ALL must be like Malala. Because if we don't speak up against the injustices of the world as we see them, then who will? I see in her a strength that carries her message through Taliban infested societies in which women have NO rights whatsoever. She is rising above adversity and hoping that, if not in this generation but surely for the next, the world will be safer and more open to equal rights for all. God made all of us in His likeness and image. When I see someone fighting to preserve these ideals, I see the Face of God at work. In her own "little way," Malala is making a difference. Even St Therese of Lisieux would be so proud of her. If I could, I'd give her a hug for what she has done. So, to Malala, this is my way of giving that hug, of saying thank you. I can only use the gift of words that God gave me to spread this message...but then again, so are you!
Thank you--from the bottom of my heart!
(Credit Wikipedia for this information)
Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani school pupil and education activist from the town of Mingora in the Swat District of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. She is known for her education and women's rights activism in the Swat Valley, where the Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. In early 2009, at the age of 11–12, Yousafzai wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls. The following summer, a New York Times documentary was filmed about her life as the Pakistani military intervened in the region, culminating in the Second Battle of Swat. Yousafzai rose in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television, and she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by South African activist Desmond Tutu.
On 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen while returning home on a school bus. In the days immediately following the attack, she remained unconscious and in critical condition, but later her condition improved enough for her to be sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, United Kingdom for intensive rehabilitation. On 12 October, a group of 50 Islamic clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwā against those who tried to kill her, but the Taliban reiterated its intent to kill Yousafzai and her father.The assassination attempt sparked a national and international outpouring of support for Yousafzai. Deutsche Welle wrote in January 2013 that Malala may have become "the most famous teenager in the world." United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown launched a UN petition in Yousafzai's name, using the slogan "I am Malala" and demanding that all children worldwide be in school by the end of 2015. Brown said he would hand the petition to Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari in November. In the 29 April 2013 issue of Time magazine, Yousafzai was featured on the magazine's front cover and as one of "The 100 Most Influential People In The World". She was the winner of Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize and was nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. On 12 July 2013, Yousafzai spoke at the UN to call for worldwide access to education, while in September 2013 she officially opened the Library of Birmingham.
This is just amazing! When I read this story and think of you, Rev Baum, I see you doing a work as wonderful as she is. Don't judge yourself based on not going through evil large enough to be of value. You have so much worth...you saved me and so many like me. Through your words and your help you have helped so many. This is a wonderful story. Thank you for posting it!
ReplyDeleteMalala is currently being sought by the Taliban as we speak. Think about it--she is hated as much as any other vocal peacekeeper who walked the face of the earth. Makes you wonder why they "must" be silenced, doesn't it?
ReplyDeletetaken from a Facebook post:
ReplyDeleteIn honor of the news that Malala Yousafzai has won the Nobel Prize for Peace (!!!) I wanted to repost this essay I wrote last March, after having watched her father, Ziauddin speak at the 2014 TED conference.
What an incredible family, and what beautiful news this is today.
Talk about freakin' Girl Power!
Anyhow, here goes:
March 18 2014
"UNLEARN THE LESSON OF OBEDIENCE."
Last night at the TED conference, I wept openly while listening to Ziauddin Yousafzai speak about his daughter, Malala.
You have have heard of Malala Yousafzai. She is the brave young Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for speaking up on behalf of education for girls.
Her father began his extraordinary speech by saying that in tribal and patriarchal societies, a man is known by his sons. "But I am one of the few fathers who is known by my daughter," he said. "And I am proud of that."
He spoke about how, in rural Pakistan, when a girl is born, it is never cause for celebration, but rather shame. As she grows up, she is taught only one virtue: Obedience.
Yousafzai refused to follow suit. He celebrated his daughter from the day she was born, and wrote her name in the family tree — a 300 year-old document that had never mentioned a female. He put Malala in school — not only so that she could know her own potential through education, but also for the mere political defiance of writing his daughter's name on an enrollment form, thus signaling her very existence as a human being. (He had never seen the names of any of his 5 sisters on any document whatsoever; they simply did not exist within their own country.)
And most of all he said, "I taught her to unlearn the lesson of obedience."
Which was such a shocking transgression that a Taliban gunman shot her for it. (I always think it's particularly telling that she was shot in the head — shot in the MIND. Anything to shut down that female brain.)
She survived, famously, and still fights for education for girls. (She spoke last night to us from a video feed — she couldn't come to the conference because she's in SCHOOL — and she dazzled.)
This girl is extraordinary; this father is extraordinary.
He finished his speech by saying that people always ask him what he did to make Malala into such a strong warrior. He says it's not what he did; it's what he DIDN'T do: "I didn't clip her wings."
I was so honored and emotional to be there last night to hear this, and wanted to share it with you all.
Unlearn your obedience, women.
Teach your girls to unlearn their obedience.
Never clip their wings.
And let a star shine in the crown of this father, and all parents, who guide their daughters to grow strong.
Onward,
LG