Liaba Anwar

12/9/2016

ELA p. 1

Zierenberg

The Activist Malala

Imagine if you were fighting for your rights, and because of this, you were shot. Malala

Yousafzai got shot because she was fighting for her rights to be educated. She is courageous

because she was not just fighting for herself but she was fighting for others. Courage is important

so that everyone can have equal rights no matter what.

Taliban - a Muslim fundamentalist group in Afghanistan. Taliban militants in a one time

visited region of Pakistan have banned girls from school beginning this month, claiming female

education is opposed to Islam. In fact, from January 15, girls will not be allowed to attend

schools, (Hussein). The Taliban is spreading violence throughout the world. They are banning

them from going to school, by saying that it is against Islam, although it clearly isnt. In 2006,

the number of girls going to school decreased by more than 30% in the Pakistan region

(Hussein). I remembered in 2014, my own family who are from Pakistan, talking about the

attack that the Taliban did in Peshawar. They bombed a school, killing a lot of people, including

students and the principal. Malala Yousafzai was one of their targets.

Malala Yousafzai was not scared for the consequences. For example, she still went to

school, despite that fact that the taliban threatened her. After she got shot she still continued to

stand up for her rights. According to Yousafzai, I don't want to be thought of as the girl who

was shot by the Taliban but the girl who fought for education. This is the cause to which I want

to devote my life ( Yousafzai). She is still not scared if the Taliban are going to try to shoot her
again, but still continues to get other girls their education. Yousafzai refused to be silenced and

fought for her right to an education. She didnt think of what was gonna happen to her after she

went against the taliban about womens right to be educated.

Malala Yousafzai stood up for her rights and was brave for going against the Taliban. She

got shot in the head for wanting an education and standing up for her rights. She spread her

message all around the world. She travels internationally, to New York, to Syria and Africa to

speak out about her cause (He Named Me Malala). She became a voice and a hero to women,

kids, and education. Malala Yousafzai is an inspiration to all because she has a voice for others

who can't be heard. She believes everyone deserves their own rights. This young activist believes

womens and mens should both get equal rights. She believes that women have the rights to get

education like men's do. She doesn't make a differences mens and womens.

Malala risked herself for others and herself. The taliban said if she went to school there

were going to shoot her. She still went to school even though the taliban threatened her. In her

book, I am Malala, she states I had really two options. One was to remain silent and wait

to be killed. And then the second was to speak up and then be killed. She took a risk

even though she knew that if she raised her voice she would be killed. This young woman

wasn't scared from the Taliban.

Malala Yousafzai helped others by raising her voice to allow women to be

educated. She didnt just think about herself and what would happen to her if she stood

against the taliban's, instead she raised her voice. It was her choice to stand up against the

talibans or just stay silent, she choose to stand up so that women get education just like

mens do. With her helping others she put her life on the line. She helped others a lot by

being the voice for others.

 Courage matters in the world without any courage nothing can change. If one person is

courageous enough then that one person can change the entire world. Every choice that really

matters in your life will take courage.It takes courage to choose the path that is right for us. It

takes courage to tell your story. It takes courage to be sick. It takes courage to love.It takes

courage to apologise when you realise youve made a mistake. It takes courage to say no to

something that doesnt feel right to you. Courage is a quality that not everyone has. Malala is a

symbol of hope and fighting, working to overcome the violent protests to female education,

across the world. Malala believes in hope, truth, miracles . According to Malala one person -

one young person - can inspire change in her community and beyond(Yousafza). One girl,

Malala stood up for education and changed the world.

Works Cited :

"The Definition of Taliban." Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

Husain, Mishal. "Malala: The Girl Who Was Shot for Going to School." BBC News. N.p., 07

Oct.

2013. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

The Malala Fund. "The Malala Fund." The Malala Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

Malala = (He Named Me Malala). Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Perf. Malala Yousafzai, Ziauddin

Yousafzai, Toor Pekai Yousafzai. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2015.

Yousafzai, Malala, and Patricia McCormick. I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood up for Education

and

Changed the World. New York: Little, Brown, 2014. Print.