Malala Day: Remembering the Legacy of an Activist

Graphic created by Raenna Aldabe

Today marks the 8th Malala Day, a day dedicated to the endeavors undertaken by a young Pakistani teen.  Malala Yousafzai is a name that many people still recognize due to the infamous events that were brought to international attention.  However, Yousafzai’s story begins much earlier than that, and it  provides a variety of important lessons on how the everyday person can partake in activism and drive dramatic change.

24 years ago on this day, Malala Yousafzai was born in Mingora, Pakistan to Ziauddin and Torpekai Yousafzai.  Her father, Ziauddin, worked as a teacher for one of the village’s girl schools.  Taking after her father, Yousafzai became enamored of learning and education at a young age.  She took great pride in being able to learn more by attending school.  This, essentially, would be the driving force to her work as an activist; her desire to ensure every child would be equally educated.  Yet, a separate catalyst would cause her to realize this ambition.  A catalyst born from malicious actors.

Those actors would come in the form of the Taliban, which had established itself as the new authority in Mingora and the wider Swat Valley.  Upon gaining control over the area in 2008, the Taliban instated various bans on commonplace aspects of life.  Things such as TVs, dancing, and, most notably, girls attending schools were banned.  This had a direct and immediate impact on the Yousafzai family.  Ziauddin was forced to close down his school, which Malala attended.  Deprived of both her learning environment and, more importantly, her ability to learn, Malala had become a victim of the Taliban’s cruel rule.

However, Malala would not become complacent due to the situation around her.  In 2009, Yousafzai began writing a blog on the BBC Urdu website under the alias of Gul Makai.  Through this blog she exposed the changes occurring in her village.  Changes like how her friends and their families had to flee the Valley, the destruction of schools perpetuated by the Taliban, and the emotional impact of losing multiple aspects of her normal life.  Writing allowed Yousafzai to tell her readers about the impact of the Taliban rule over Swat Valley, but it also made her vulnerable as her identity was revealed later that year.  Yet she was not deterred, as she was able to still get her message out.  A message that changed from retelling the injustice that befell her and her classmates, to one that promoted a desire to reclaim girls’ education.  By using her growing renown to promote this intimate issue, Yousafzai would go on to be nominated for and win various awards for activism, such as the Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize.

However, these events and awards would not be what brought Yousafzai’s story to the international spotlight.  Rather, it would be the tragic events of October 9, 2012.  After making threats on her life, the Taliban would attempt to assassinate Malala on her way home from school.  While the assailants failed in killing her, they had dealt enough severe and critical damage to put her into a ten day coma.  She and her family would then have to be evacuated to the United Kingdom for both their safety and so that Malala could undergo intensive treatment.  Truly, this is the most harrowing event in Malala’s campaign towards education equality.  To quell her movement, the Taliban attempted to take a child’s life.  However, unexpected by her attackers, this event would be integral in spreading Yousafzai’s message to the rest of the world.  More news sources began to pick up her story, and the values that Yousafzai and her supporters championed quickly entered the international discussion.

After recuperating from her injuries, Yousafzai continued to advocate for equal education in the United Kingdom and accomplished a variety of achievements.  In the following year, she would go on to create the Malala Fund to advance education for girls, spoke at the UN on her beliefs, and had July 12 dedicated to her for the first time.  Then in 2014, she would become the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.  This growth in renown is also when Malala Yousafzai’s story and methods began to spread across the world.  Even to the students of the United States.

I was in elementary school when Malala was shot, but her actions have had an effect throughout the years since.  Malala had not only just fought for girls’ rights, she also taught students around the world how to take their trauma and turn it into activism.  Activism that I find to have parallels with Malala’s work is the #NeverAgain movement.  Created by student survivors of the 2018 Parkland school shooting, this hashtag and group aimed to lobby for gun-control legislation.  They did this by running social media smear campaigns against gun-supporters, targeted criticism of the NRA, and organizing the March 14 National School Walkout to protest for new legislation.  While Yousafzai’s fight for equality and #NeverAgain’s aim for a safer country are their own unique goals, both were created by individuals who were faced by a tragedy and choose to stand up against it.  This is only one other example of student-run activism, as many other campaigns have been created by young people across the world.  

Since Malala’s story involves so many facets of her movement, it can be argued that Malala Day is dedicated to each and every one of them.  From her opposition to the Taliban’s rule by publicly speaking out to the world, to her tale of survival and perseverance, and to the inspiration that she has created for others.  May today continue to drive changes for those of us who seek it.