While most confront tragedy by submitting to grief, Malala Yousafzai has risen up to enact change. She has quite literally stood up to the Taliban, and has since used her voice to advocate for women's rights and schooling. She has written a brilliant book, I Am Malala, became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and started Malala Fund, an organization that works toward ensuring that every girl has access to quality primary and secondary education. Her contributions to both local communities in her native Pakistan and the international community at-large are remarkable.
Today, the activist turns 19. Last year, she celebrated by opening a school in Lebanon for Syrian refugee girls, named The Malala Yousafzai All-Girls School. This year, she is in Kenya visiting Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp, and is asking everyone to declare #YesAllGirls.
Given the recent string of gun violence and terrorism, her belief in using education as a peaceful form of resistance and a method to combat hate and violence is more poignant than ever. Ahead, we visit some of Yousafzai's most powerful words.
From her biography, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, $11, available at Barnes and Noble.
From her biography, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.
From her biography, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.
From her biography, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.
From her biography, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.
From her interview with Jon Stewart for The Daily Show. Watch the entire interview here.
From her interview with Jon Stewart for The Daily Show.
From her interview with Jon Stewart for The Daily Show.
From her United Nations speech in 2013. Watch the entire speech here.
From her Nobel Peace Prize speech. Watch the entire speech here.
