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| Malala at the Nobel Peace Price ceremony in 2014. |
Malala
Yousafzai is probably the most important person today. That is probably a bold
statement but she has done more and has been through more in her 17 years of
life than most people will have in their seventy years. She advocated for
women’s rights in her home country of Pakistan and won the Nobel Peace Prize in
2014 for all the work that she has done since she was infamously shot in
2012.
With
only two of the ten members accused of attacking and shooting the bus Malala
rode to school with her female classmates, I can't help to think of the world
as it is. We live in a world where police brutality is happening everyday in
the United States and nothing is happening to end it. It seems like the end.
How can we separate ourselves from the bad and good guys? The world seems
made up, like we are living in a dystopian novel.
Malala
was an avid blogger for the BBC, writing about life under
the Taliban something many people would not even be able to
imagine. Malala was first brought to the media’s attention in October 2012
after the attempted assassination against her and the world has been adoring
her ever since. The Taliban, a political group of terrorists in Malala’s home
country of Pakistan, plotted to assassinate her and her father, as they are
advocates for women’s rights in their home country of Pakistan. Malala loves
her country more than anything, going into detail about how beautiful the
sights and surroundings are in her book "I Am Malala."
Not
only did the Yousafzai family and their fellow Pakistanis live in fear of the
Taliban but the country also went through many economical issues. Malala’s
father ran a school by himself from the ground up, using his own money to
support students and the furnishings and many times there would not be enough
money leftover for the family to have basic necessities. The country of
Pakistan lacks basic respect and commodities for women. Malala’s mother was not
well educated and was not respected, common for most women in the country
simply for being women.
Malala
was shot in the head in October 2012 while traveling to school and survived
after being taken to a hospital in Birmingham, England. Malala’s story,
although heartbreaking, gives hope to a new chapter for women’s rights and
basic human rights to all Pakistani citizens. Malala’s journey and experience
opens the reader’s eyes to what their life could be like if they were simply
born in a different time zone.
I
have read numerous dystopian novels within the past few years and I did not
think picking up "I Am Malala" to read I would be thinking of it
like that. Sure, I knew the Middle East was a hard place to live and I knew
people did not have equal and fair rights there but reading "Malala" I
sometimes forgot I was reading a memoir and not a goofy,
futuristic, antigovernment young adult novel about a dystopian society. There
is not much of a difference. Malala and her family live in constant fear of the
Taliban but Malala continues to have a spirited attitude like any protagonist
of a novel would in a situation. She loves her country and her family more than
anything but the Taliban is at large in every aspect of the country. The group
threatens the wellbeing and safety of every citizen who does not have the same
views as theirs. Malala and her father.
Malala’s
story will ask the reader why they were so naïve about what is going on in the
world. Reading "Malala" raises the questions about why we can be so
comfortable and not care what is going on in countries with conflict. Sending
military support does not do much for the citizens as it does for the country.
Malala and her female classmates were not protected by American soldiers, like
the news media makes it out to be. She is doing everything herself to make a
change in her country with the support and teachings of her father.
Reading
Malala’s story made me want to get involved. I consider myself an active
participant in American politics but what really is the difference between
American politics and what Malala is fighting for? Fight for both. There’s no
difference until a change is made for the better and Malala and a girl from the
United States can be treated the same as a male counterpart.
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| Malala on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" in 2013 at age 16 where she left Stewart speechless. |
Malala
wants us to change within her book as well. She wants us to become aware and
have an understanding of what her life is like. Malala is different. She is
important for change to happen and flourish. She will be a leader in education
and awareness for women’s rights. Malala makes the reader want to do something
important – something like Malala has done. Malala’s voice is something
incredible considering where she is from and what her traditional values are.
She has made a difference around the world with her self-awareness when it
comes to educational rights for women.
Malala wants Pakistan to be a safer world – a world where she can go to school without the fear that she will be shot or ridiculed just for receiving an education and standing up for something she wants to change. Despite Malala’s head injury she still holds faith that one day the world will be better and her wish will come true. "I Am Malala" is an inspiring story that will make the reader want to change the way they perceive the world and everything around it.