Y is for Malala Yousafzai
Over the next few days I will post some of my posts from the past about inspirational people of colour. #Blacklivesmatter
This entry is by my guest blogger Michaela Morgan, one of my fellow authors of Reaching the Stars, Poems about Extraordinary Women and Girls, also by me and Jan Dean, published by Macmillan. This poem and the entry are found in the book.
.Malala Yousafzai was born on 2 July 2 1997 in the Swat district in Pakistan. She is known because on the afternoon of 9 October 2012, she was seriously injured after a Taliban gunman attempted to murder her. After extensive medical care Malala eventually recovered.
She has since continued to work for education and rights for girls. On 12 July 2015, her 18th birthday, she opened a school in the near the Syrian border, for Syrian refugees. The school, funded by the Malala Fund, offers education and training to girls aged 14 to 18 years. Malala called on world leaders to invest in “books, not bullets”.
She believes in the power of books to change the world.
On the afternoon of October 9, 2012, Malala boarded her school bus in the northwest Pakistani district of Swat. A gunman asked for her by name, then pointed a pistol at her and fired three shots into her head. She survived, recovered, and continues her fight for rights. She is now the youngest ever winner of the Noble Peace Prize.
.
Malala
.
A girl with a book.
A girl with a book.
That’s what has scared them –
A girl, with a book.
.
They get onto the bus.
They call out my name.
They aim. And they fire.
A shot to the brain.
.
Because a girl with a book,
A girl with a voice,
A girl with a brain,
A girl with a choice,
A girl with a plan
To have rights, like a man.
That’s what they’re scared of
One girl, with a book.
.
A girl who has words.
A girl with a pen.
A girl to be heard
With support of her friends
Who want to live free –
That’s what they fear
a girl just like me.
.
© Michaela Morgan
Facts:
Reaching the Stars, Poems about Extraordinary Women and Girls
Image: By DFID – UK Department for International Development (Malala Yousafzai: Education for girls) via Wiki Commons.
- Posted in: A-Z Challenge 2017 ♦ Extraordinary Women ♦ Liz Brownlee ♦ Poems ♦ Reaching the Stars ♦ Reaching the Stars Poems
- Tagged: Blacklivesmatter, Extraordinary Women, Jan Dean, Liz Brownlee, Malala Yousafzai, Michaela Morgan, Michaela Morgan poems, Poems about extraordinary women and girls, poetry, Reaching the Stars
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