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| Malala Yousafzai |
Malala Yousafzai has never been ordinary. When she was just 11 years
old, she started blogging about the Taliban takeover of her hometown of
Mingora, in northwestern Pakistan. Taliban members follow an extreme
version of Islam, and believe young girls should not go to school.
Classrooms throughout the Swat district of Pakistan, where Malala lived,
were closed for several months. Malala spoke out about her desire to go
back to school. “All I want is an education,” she told one television
broadcaster.
Malala was later able to return to class. But she continued to blog
and speak out about girls’ right to education. On October 9, 2012, the
Taliban tried to silence her. A gunman boarded the truck she and her
classmates used as a school bus and shot her in the head. Malala
survived, and showed great courage and optimism during her long
recovery. During this time, she became a symbol of the struggle for
girls’ rights all over the world. Nine months after she was shot, she
gave a now-famous speech at the United Nations, in New York City. “They
thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed,” she said.
“And then, out of that silence came thousands of voices. … Weakness,
fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power, and courage was born.”
Malala has also become an international symbol for peace. In 2011,
she won Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize, which has since been
renamed the National Malala Peace Prize. On October 10, Malala was
awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. She is the youngest Nobel winner in
history. The Nobel Prize is named after Alfred Nobel, who invented
dynamite in the 1800s. He left his fortune to reward people who work for
the "good of humanity" in the sciences, literature, and world affairs.
Malala says the prize is an "encouragement" to go forward with her
mission to help kids. "I want to tell children all around the world that
they should stand up for their rights," she said. "This award is for
all those children whose voices need to be heard."
For courageously standing up for girls’ right to education, receiving
the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, and giving a voice to the voiceless, Malala
Yousafzai is a nominee for TFK’s 2014 Person of the Year.
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