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THE POWER OF A VOICE

DELIAH BROWN
HIST 1302

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After spending 8 hours a day at school, I always dread the endless pile of homework I have to do
when I get home. There is always a project or an essay that needs to be done, and it has to meet the
expectations of each teacher. I dont seem to remember what day of the week it is anymore, but I can
definitely tell someone when our next test is for English. The holiday breaks we get from school are like
long weekends with twice the amount of homework. If someone asked me to recall some of the most vivid
memories of my teenage years, Id probably talk about the stresses and struggles of high school more than
anything. America, the land of freedom and opportunities, where children can receive a free education until
the age of 18. Even after that age, there are so many organizations who provide merit and need-based
scholarships to students who wish to continue on to higher level education. Education is something that is
taken for granted here in America, and it is widely spoken about as a burden rather than a right. According to
the Humanium Organization, more than 72 million children of primary education age are not in
school and 759 million adults are illiterate and do not have the awareness necessary to improve
both their living conditions and those of their children. Having an education is widely valued for
males in third world countries because it is seen as a ticket out of poverty, but opportunities for
females are little to none. Many of these third world countries promote child labor, child
marriages, human trafficking, and sex trade for women. For one young girl, it is her dream to be
able to see every child and every woman to attend school because it is their right to be able to do
so. She was gunned down by the Taliban at the age of 15 for speaking out against the Talibans
restrictions on girls education. She spoke at the United Nations Peace Assembly on her 16th
birthday and she is the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17. Her
voice echoes throughout the world and she speaks on behalf of ...every woman, every boy and
every girl who have raised their voice for their rights. This is the voice of Malala Yousafzai.

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Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12th, 1997 in Mingora, the main city of the Swat
Valley in Pakistan. She was named after Malalai of Maiwand, the greatest heroine of
Afghanistan. She is the oldest daughter of Ziuddin Yousafzai and Tor Pekai, and she has two
younger brothers, Khushal and Atal. She is a Pashtun, a people of many tribes split between
Pakistan and Afghanistan. Malalas father was an educational advocate who ran the very school
that Malala attended. In 2009, Malala began writing blog entries for BBC Urdu Online
expressing her views on education and life under the threat of the Taliban taking over her valley.
She wrote anonymously under the pen name Gul Makai. After hearing about Malalas
struggles with education in the Swat Valley, the New York Times did a documentary on life with
Malala and her father. In the documentary, Class Dismissed, the Taliban have a very strict
military hold on the Valley. The Taliban openly whipped and killed people in public. They would
display the bodies of all those who opposed them around the city. Women were discouraged from
going for walks and going shopping, and there was even a point where young girls were banned
from going to school. The girls in the Mingora were given a deadline after which they could not
go to school, but Malala and about 25% of her classmates still went. Many students stopped
showing up and did not pay their school fees because they didnt want to take the risk of being
caught by the Taliban. Malala used to dream of becoming a doctor, but now she has a new dream.
She says, So, I thought I must be a politician to save this country. Because there are so many
crises in our country so I want to remove these crises and to save my country. On October 9th,
2012, a Taliban shot Malala on the left side of her forehead along with two other girls, yet she
has no hatred towards the man who shot her. She says,

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I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there is a gun in my hand and he stands
in front of me. I would not shoot him. This is the compassion that I have learnt from
Muhammad-the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This is the legacy of
change that I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Muhammad
Ali Jinnah. This is the philosophy of non-violence that I have learnt from Gandhi Jee,
Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learnt from my
mother and father. This is what my soul is telling me, be peaceful and love everyone.

No one would expect these words from a 16 year old girl who fought for her life after
being shot in the forehead. Malala would later on win the first Youth Peace Prize in Pakistan and
the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner. She never once picked up a gun, a knife, or any weapon;
her most powerful weapons were books, pens, and her voice. With these three, she started an
education petition that received more than three million signatures.
Although Malala has the support of millions around the world, there are many people
who dont believe Malala is fighting for the right kind of education. For example, in an ABC
interview with Campaign Islam, a group of Muslim, female YouTubers who make videos on
promoting an Islamic way of life in the UK, believe that Malala should be fighting for the lives
of children living in poverty rather than their right to education because they say, what good
would education do to these children when they are denied the right to live? They believe that
Malalas definition of education should be confined within the realms of Islam and they define
these realms by who is teaching these children and whether or not Islamic values are being
taught. Islam fully supports education for all women and all children, but each persons version
of what should be taught in Islam and what shouldnt be taught in Islam differs. As mentioned

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before, the Taliban extremist group are against women and girls being educated, especially in the
Swat Valley. In the New York Times documentary, Malala and her family were forced to move
out of the valley while the Pakistani Army raided and bombed Taliban hideouts. Malala had to be
separated from her father for security reasons and was able to go back to Swat Valley after three
months. Malala states, What terrifies religious extremists like the Taliban are not American
tanks or bombs or bulletsits a girl with a book. The Taliban may see young girls with an
education as a threat because one can speak out against their oppressors with the proper
education. She wants everyone to have the opportunity to go to school so that each individual
can realize their own potential and to be able to fight for their right.
Malala had the honor of speaking at the United Nations Peace Assembly and she is the
youngest recipient for the Nobel Peace Prize. Even though she is a devout Muslim, she calls
upon all communities to be tolerant---to reject prejudice based on cast, creed, sect, religion,
color, or gender. There have been many speculations about the fact that people are using Malala
for media purposed after the Taliban shot her and she still continued her campaign. During her
speech at the UN, Malala said,

There are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers who are not only
speaking for human rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goals of education,
peace and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and
millions have been injured. I am just one of them.
So here I stand...one girl among many.
I speak not for myself, but for all girls and boys.

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I raise up my voice not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be
heard.
Those who have fought for their rights:
Their right to live in peace.
Their right to be treated with dignity.
Their right to equality of opportunity.
Their right to be educated.

The Malala Fund amplifies the voices of the girls to keep them in the spotlight, inspires
girls globally and drives actions on girls issues by the global community, they advocate at the
international, national and local level for policy and system changes that give girls access to a
high quality education at a community, and they invest in community centered scalable solutions
that provide quality education with potential for systems level change by empowering local
leaders and educators. Pakistan, Nigeria, Jordan, and Kenya are some of the countries who have
partnered with the Malala Fund to provide quality schools and education for refugee children,
girls who were in exploitive child domestic labor, and to support young girls who were married
at a young age and have no opportunity to go to school.
When we think of the fight for education rights, we see Malala Yousafzais face and we
hear her voice. There are so many people around the world who were awakened by Yousafzais
stories of how she was not allowed to go to school because someone else dictated that she
wouldnt be able to. Angelina Jolie said, After a brutal attempt to silence her voice, it grew
louder, and she more resolute. She is powerful, but she is also a sweet, creative, loving little girl
who wants to help others. Her goal is progress, not notoriety. Former UK prime minister

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Gordon Brown also added, Because of Malala there is a public understanding that something is
wrong and has got to be done. The power of voice is incomparable to the power of guns and
bullets. Help

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Works Cited
"A World At School." Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
"Girl Heroes: Malala - the Voice of 250 Million Girls." The Girl Effect. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov.
2014.
"Malala Fund." Malala Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
Yousafzai, Malala, and Christina Lamb. I AM MALALA: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education
and Was Shot by the Taliban. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2013. PDF.