Kat Stoeffel at NYMag:
Today, Malala Yousafzai — the Pakistani girls’ education activist who was nearly killed by a Taliban sniper last year — turns 16. The United Nations declared it Malala Day, and she gave a moving speech. Wearing a pink shawl that once belonged to slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, she said, “The wise saying, ‘The pen is mightier than sword’ was true. The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them.”…
More at the link. What an awesome example for us all.
NotMax
Brava!
michelle
Now if you all would quit listening/responding to Corner Stone, we might make some progress here on this blog.
Gin & Tonic
I only wish that at sixteen I had had 1% of the poise and courage that this young woman has.
Yatsuno
@Gin & Tonic: Amen to that. She is indeed a light unto the world. I wonder how she got awarded such a mature outlook on life.
amk
She might have as well said teahadists.
Keith
I’m not going to wear a pink shawl, even if it’s advertised as ‘salmon’.
jrg
This girl is my hero. I’ve never seen such courage and eloquence in someone her age. The Taliban is right to be afraid.
Ruckus
@Yatsuno:
She wasn’t awarded that outlook, she earned it. The very hard way. At the risk of her life.
But I know what you mean and I agree that she is way up there as humans go.
Mr Stagger Lee
@amk: Oh believe me if the TeaBaggers are not stopped, we will have our own version of her. Today they are afraid of tampons and other feminine products. How far will these fanatics in Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina and other places go?
NotMax
@Keith
Sun-cured antique red?
NickT
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/malala-yousafza-sparks-global-girls-rights-movement-a-910587.html
It’s well worth reading the article. Pretty inspiring stuff, although very sad at points.
NickT
@Keith:
Think of it as that manly pale scarlet you’ve always secretly wanted.
dewzke
Fuck with the shithead walker but what? Wisconsin?
Short Bus Bully
She is fucking unbelievable, as heroic as anyone I have ever heard of. To stand up to what she stood up to as a child? In that country? There are no words that do justice to that kind of bravery.
Omnes Omnibus
@Keith: Not even if GQ or Esquire says okay?
@dewzke: The new abortion law here is pretty fucked up.
dewzke
Tammy Baldwin? She rules. Sconi has not fucked up as much as those other places…but sorry for Joe McCarthy.
Botsplainer
Awesome weekend. Client tipped me a C note, and last night, I found an All Access crew pass to Louisville’s Forecastle Festival laying on the sidewalk.
Three days of great music, and I just sail through the side entrance. I got the String Cheese Incident tonight, as well as the Doc Crow Medicine Show. Tomorrow, I’ll come late for the Black Keys. Sunday, the later acts are Robert Plant and the Avett Brothers. My kids just have regular tickets.
Tomorrow, I try to slip backstage and into VIP spaces…
ruemara
@Botsplainer: Send some of that luck my way. Congrats and keep having a fabulous time.
p.a.
I’m doubly humbled, first by her courage and also by the sad fact that others will die fighting for basic rights and there’s not much we can do besides support NGO’s like AI to better the situation and save lives.
And these groups who treat half their population like farm animals shake their fists at ‘the West’ and wonder why their countries crap out in the modern world.
Anya
Very inspiring young woman. Women and girls of Pakistan need many girls like her.
Punchy
@Botsplainer: Doc crow? Do you mean Old Crow Medicine Show?
amk
@p.a.: Have had a look recently at all the red states where women are being shown their place?
Redshirt
@Anya: Yes, but one can understand why many girls sit down and shut up. Men are murdering women, throwing acid, maiming women all for crazy patriarch shit. Pakistan is crazy now – and didn’t used to be. Just like Afghanistan didn’t used to be.
Just like the world actually seemed saner in the past. We’ve fucking regressed!
Botsplainer
@Punchy:
Yeah, force of habit – there’s a venue here by that name. It was Old Crow.
burnspbesq
@Omnes Omnibus:
Did the TRO get turned into a preliminary injunction yet?
Omnes Omnibus
@burnspbesq: I think that the hearing is next week.
WereBear
@Redshirt: They are fighting against the gains women have made.
Just as “Christianity” didn’t used to mean “women can’t wear pants.” Fundamentalist Christians are the ones who have regressed, seeking out their inner tyrant because women have made some headway towards being regarded as human.
Betty Cracker
What a courageous and remarkable young woman. She gives me hope for the future.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker:
Yes.
We need to find our inner Malalas, even at 3% strength of the original.
Gonna take a lot of fortitude to take state and local governments back from the ALEC and Koch and Tea Partying types.
gene108
http://www.theworld.org/2013/07/historical-photos-depict-women-medical-pioneers/
Saw this article and though it would be appropriate on this thread.
LAC
She is amazing and brave. A real example of what it is to be heroic.
MikeBoyScout
Malala won the week for me. This young woman is one strong, intellengent and motivated leader. She gives me hope for our fked up world.
gnomedad
How dare this furriner bash the United States of Awesome like that??
red dog
May all the girls and women in this country stand up and demand that control of their bodies not be undermined by a bunch of religious fanatics.
Mike G
The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women.
It’s a good thing there is no political party like this in the United States, with its own dedicated propaganda channel and lavishly funded by billionaires dedicated to keeping the population scared and ignorant. That would suck.
The Fat Kate Middleton
@Botsplainer: Lucky you. One of my all-time favorites by Old Crow: http://youtu.be/_TXNSipWUiE
And, yes … sixteen year old Malala is a hero to this sixty plus year old woman.
notoriousJRT
Malala puts the AWE in awesome.
notoriousJRT
@Ruckus:
I believe her father deserves some credit.