March 27th, 2014 | Uncategorized
My elliptical book this week is “I Am Malala”, the autobiography of 16-year-old Pakistani Malala Yousafzai who found herself front and center of the women’s rights and equal education campaign when a member of the Taliban shot her in the face on her way to school. Procrastinating writing my essay for Business Ethics (ironic), I watched her speech (on her 16th birthday) to the UN Youth Assembly this past summer.
Her message is an important one: a pen and book are our most dangerous weapons. Malala and her family’s story is an inspirational one that opened my eyes further to the injustices in the world. It also is very enlightening reading her perspective on the US’s role in the Middle East. I have few other words than to suggest you watch and read about her life and efforts to promote education for children across the world, they will leave your mind spinning.
Despite the lack of support in their community and the imminent fear of the extremist groups in power, Malala and her father continued to speak up against the Taliban. Her father references this poem about a man who lived in Nazi Germany:
First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak out because I was not a Catholic.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.
Lets all make a conscious effort to speak out against injustices we see in our DAILY lives, value our own educations and take advantage of them to promote unity and social change.
#INSPIRE
