Malala Yousefzai was just 14 years old when she learned that Taliban forces in Pakistan had put a price on her head, and last week she became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
She learned the news where any 17-year-old activist for children’s education would be—in school.
“However, when I found that I have won the Nobel Peace Prize, I decided that I would not leave my school, rather I would finish my school time,” Yousefzai said in a speech acknowledging her award. “I went to the physics lesson, I learned, I went to the English lessons and I considered it as a normal day.”
In October 2012, Yousefzai was on her way home from school when a gunman boarded her bus, asking which student was Malala. When all eyes turned to her, the man shot at her, hitting her in the left side of the head, and injuring two other girls.
Yousafzai underwent life-saving treatment in Pakistan and was flown to Birmingham, England for further treatment and recovery, where her family now resides.
The attack that was supposed to permanently silence her has only kept her going.
Farha Farooq, Secretary of the Pakistan Association of Memphis, said Yousefzai is an inspiration to younger generations.
“She took the bullet for the cause,” Farooq said. “Unfortunately, that’s the reality of the Taliban.”
Yousefzai began her activism when the Taliban started attacking schools for girls in her home of Swat Valley in Pakistan.
She gave a speech in Pakistan titled “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?” in 2008 at just 11 years old.
Shortly after her speech, Yousafzai began blogging for the BBC under the pseudo name Gul Makai. The blog described what it was like living under the threat of the Taliban and her continued quest for education.
Although her identity as the blogger was revealed at the end of 2009, Yousafzai seized the growing platform she had created to continue speaking out about the right she shared with all women and children to receive an education.
“She’s doing what she can and that’s a part of the contribution, but there should be bigger scale efforts to control [the Taliban],” Farooq said.
Yousefzai shares the award with Kailash Satyarthi, a children’s rights activist from India.
Giving up his career as an electrical engineer in 1980, Satyarthi began working against child slavery. He has since lead the rescue of over 78,500 enslaved children and created programs for their rehabilitation and education.
Satyarthi is also the founder of the Global March Against Child Labor, an international coalition of organizations devoted to children’s rights and other humanitarian efforts.
In Yousafzai’s acknowledgement speech, she said she was inspired by Satyarthi’s work and found it a great honor to share the award with him.
“One is from Pakistan, one is from India,” Yousafzai said. “One believes in Hinduism, one strongly believes in Islam. It gives a message to people. It gives a messages to people of love between Pakistan and India and between different religions and we both support each other.”
Pakistan and India have had a tenuous and often volatile relationship since the end of World War II, when British India was divided into Pakistan and modern-day India.
In the spirit of the award they have won, Yousefzai and Satyarthi have chosen to use their joint win to promote peace between their two countries.
Yousefzai announced in her speech that both of the award winners are inviting the prime ministers of both countries to attend the official acceptance award ceremony in December in Stockholm, Sweden. Yousefzai also extended an invitation to both leaders herself.
“I myself request the honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the honorable Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that they both join us when we receive the Nobel Peace Prize,” Yousafzai said. “It is my humble request.”
