Malala Yousafzai : Biography
As a young girl, Malala Yousafzai defied the Taliban in
Pakistan and demanded that girls be allowed to receive an education. She was
shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012, but survived.
Malala Yousafzai was born
on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan. As a child, she became an advocate for
girls' education, which resulted in the Taliban issuing a death threat against
her. On October 9, 2012, a gunman shot Malala when she was traveling home from
school. She survived, and has continued to speak out on the importance of
education. She was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. In 2014,
she was nominated again and won, becoming the youngest person to receive
the Nobel Peace Prize.
On July 12, 1997, Malala
Yousafzai was born in Mingora, Pakistan, located in the country's Swat Valley.
For the first few years of her life, her hometown remained a popular tourist
spot that was known for its summer festivals. However, the area began to change
as the Taliban tried to take control.
Yousafzai attended a school
that her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, had founded. After the Taliban began
attacking girls' schools in Swat, Malala gave a speech in Peshawar, Pakistan,
in September 2008. The title of her talk was, "How dare the Taliban take
away my basic right to education?"
In early 2009, Yousafzai
began blogging for the BBC about living under the Taliban's threats to deny her
an education. In order to hide her identity, she used the name Gul Makai.
However, she was revealed to be the BBC blogger in December of that year.
With a growing public
platform, Yousafzai continued to speak out about her right, and the right of
all women, to an education. Her activism resulted in a nomination for the
International Children's Peace Prize in 2011. That same year, she was awarded
Pakistan's National Youth Peace Prize.
Targeted by the Taliban
When she was 14, Malala and
her family learned that the Taliban had issued a death threat against her.
Though Malala was frightened for the safety of her father—an anti-Taliban
activist—she and her family initially felt that the fundamentalist group would
not actually harm a child.
On October 9, 2012, on her
way home from school, a man boarded the bus Malala was riding in and demanded
to know which girl was Malala. When her friends looked toward Malala, her
location was given away. The gunman fired at her, hitting Malala in the left
side of her head; the bullet then traveled down her neck. Two other girls were
also injured in the attack.
The shooting left Malala in
critical condition, so she was flown to a military hospital in Peshawar. A
portion of her skull was removed to treat her swelling brain. To receive
further care, she was transferred to Birmingham, England.
After the Attack
Once she was in the United
Kingdom, Yousafzai was taken out of a medically induced coma. Though she would
require multiple surgeries—including repair of a facial nerve to fix the
paralyzed left side of her face—she had suffered no major brain damage. In March
2013, she was able to begin attending school in Birmingham.
The shooting resulted in a
massive outpouring of support for Yousafzai, which continued during her
recovery. She gave a speech at the United Nations on her 16th birthday, in
2013. She has also written an autobiography, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up
for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, which was released in October 2013.
Unfortunately, the Taliban still considers Yousafzai a target.
Despite the Taliban's
threats, Yousafzai remains a staunch advocate for the power of education. On
October 10, 2013, in acknowledgement of her work, the European Parliament
awarded Yousafzai the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. That same year,
she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She didn't win the prize, but was
named a nominee again in March 2014. In August of the same year, Leanin.Org
held a live chat on Facebook with Sheryl Sandberg and Yousafzai about the
importance of education for girls around the world. She talked about her story,
her inspiration and family, her plans for the future and advocacy, and she
answered a variety of inquiries from the social network’s users.
In October 2014, Yousafzai
received the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Indian children's rights activist
Kailash Satyarthi. At age 17, she became the youngest person to receive the
Nobel Peace Prize. In congratulating Yousafzai, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif said: “She is (the) pride of Pakistan, she has made her countrymen
proud. Her achievement is unparalleled and unequaled. Girls and boys of the
world should take lead from her struggle and commitment." U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described her as "a brave and gentle
advocate of peace who through the simple act of going to school became a global
teacher.”
For her 18th birthday on
July 12, 2015, also called Malala Day, the young activist continued to take
action on global education by opening a school for Syrian refugee girls in
Lebanon. Its expenses covered by the Malala Fund, the school was designed to
admit nearly 200 girls from the ages of 14 to 18. "Today on my first day
as an adult, on behalf of the world's children, I demand of leaders we must
invest in books instead of bullets," Yousafzai proclaimed in one of the
school's classrooms.
That day, she also asked
her supporters on The Malala Fund website: "Post a photo of yourself
holding up your favorite book and share why YOU choose #BooksNotBullets - and
tell world leaders to fund the real weapon for change, education!" The
teenage activist wrote: “The shocking truth is that world leaders have the
money to fully fund primary AND secondary education around the world - but they
are choosing to spend it on other things, like their military budgets. In fact,
if the whole world stopped spending money on the military for just 8 days, we
could have the $39 billion still needed to provide 12 years of free, quality
education to every child on the planet.”
In October 2015, a documentary about
Yousafzai's life was released. HE NAMED ME MALALA, directed by Davis Guggenheim
(An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman), gives viewers an intimate look
into the life of Malala, her family, and her commitment to supporting education
for girls around the world.
TIFF: Malala
Yousafzai Is Heroic and Human in 'He Named Me Malala'
With the documentary releasing in
select theaters today, here are eight takeaways from the film that offer a more
intimate picture of Malala Yousafzai.
Centered among a swarm
of chaos and a crushing crowd of men stands a tiny Pakistani school girl. Her
high-pitched voice explodes in protest with unwavering conviction and
indignation as she demands a very simple thing: her right and the rights of all
young girls to be educated.
She was the cub who dared to roar like a lion.
Mixing animation, family photos, interviews, and powerful video
footage of Malala's life in Pakistan before and after the terrorizing reign of
the Taliban, director Davis Guggenheim explores the extraordinary — almost
seemingly preordained — life of the 18-year-old education advocate in He Named Me Malala.
But as the name suggests, Malala's narrative is not hers alone.
The documentary delves into the unbreakable bond she shares with her
influential former school teacher/activist father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, and how
they, along with the rest of their family, adjust to their newfound fame and
life in Birmingham, England.
Here are eight highlights we took away from He Named Me Malala, which
made its debut at this year's Toronto Film Festival.
Malala was named after Afghan national folk hero
Malalai of Maiwand.
While Malala was in her mother's womb, her father would tell her
the story of 19th century female warrior Malalai of Maiwand, who inspired her
fellow Pashtun soldiers in the battlefield to keep their spirits up as they
fought against the British in the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
According to legend, Malalai was killed in battle, but her
powerful words to the Afghan troops led them to victory. In the West, Malalai
of Maiwand is compared to Joan Of Arc —
the same attribution holds true for Malala, although she's referred to as a
"living martyr."
Despite her prestigious accolades
(she's made TIME's 100 Most Influential People list, is a national bestselling
author, and the youngest co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014), Malala
is, according to her two younger brothers, a "violent" terror of a
sibling and often slaps them in their faces. "It's a sign of how much I
love you!" Malala jokingly responds.
Malala is a
daddy's girl.
Much of the emotional
weight carried in the film is seen through the deeply held bond between father
and daughter as they travel together to humanitarian events and missions all
over the world. There are lighter moments as well, when daughter teaches an
eager father how to Tweet. Her father says of their relationship, we are
"one soul, two different bodies."
Malala is not bitter at the Taliban for maiming her.
Despite being paralyzed on the left side of her face and
incurring hearing loss in one ear, Malala without hesitation claims she feels
no anger whatsoever towards the Taliban. "Not one atom, not one
proton-size angry," she asserts.
Malala is a normal teenager.
While no one would contest Malala's inner strength, she herself
opens up about her vulnerabilities as a teenager starting a new life in a
foreign country. She admits she's insecure that her fellow classmates may not
like her and uncomfortable with how short the skirt lengths are at school.
Malala's mother is not educated.
Despite having an opportunity to go to school at age five,
Malala's mother traded her school books in for five pieces of candy. In the
film, Malala seems to believe that her mother's lack of education attributes to
her conservatism, offering one example of how her mother tells her not to look
at men directly. (Not so surprising, Malala doesn't heed the advice.)
Malala's father has a speech disorder.
Ziauddin Yousafzai suffers from stammering, but as Malala
points out proudly, her father doesn't back down; instead of skipping the word
that's causing the problem, he stammers through it. Despite his handicap, her
father rose up as a rebellious community leader in their hometown and a staunch
activist against the Taliban. "If I keep silent, I should better die than
exist," he's said.
Malala doesn't like to discuss her suffering.
Perhaps the most poignant moment of the film is when director
Davis Guggenheim points out Malala's evasiveness whenever he asks about her
suffering. When he gently presses her on the subject, she laughs uncomfortably.
She doesn't offer an explanation.
What's communicated from the silent exchange between subject and
filmmaker is open to interpretation. Nonetheless, you're reminded that behind
her steely spirit and insurmountable courage, Malala is still very much human.
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