Malala Yousafzai, Youth advocate for Education, in New York (Photo credit: GlobalPartnership for Education)
English: Chris Anderson is the curator of the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference Français : Chris Anderson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: TEDx Timisoara organisers and some attendees at the TED Woman simulcast. Independently organised TED event. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"UNLEARN THE LESSON OF OBEDIENCE."
Last night at the TED conference, I wept while listening to Ziauddin Yousafzai speak about his daughter, Malala.
You have have heard of Malala Yousafzai. She is the brave young Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for speaking up on behalf of education for girls.
Her father began his extraordinary speech by saying that in tribal and patriarchal societies, a man is known by his sons. "But I am one of the few fathers who is known by my daughter," he said. "And I am proud of that."
He spoke about how, in rural Pakistan, when a girl is born, it is never cause for celebration, but rather shame. As she grows up, she is taught only one virtue: Obedience.
Yousafzai refused to follow suit. He celebrated his daughter from the day she was born, and wrote her name in the family tree — a 300 year-old document that had never mentioned a female. He put Malala in school — not only so that she could know her own potential through education, but also for the mere political defiance of writing his daughter's name on an enrollment form, thus signaling her very existence as a human being. (He had never seen the names of any of his 5 sisters on any document whatsoever; they simply did not exist within their own country.)
And most of all he said, "I taught her to unlearn the lesson of obedience."
Which was such a shocking transgression that a Taliban gunman shot her for it. (I always think it's particularly telling that she was shot in the head — shot in the MIND. Anything to shut down that female brain.)
She survived, famously, and still fights for education for girls. (She spoke last night to us from a video feed — she couldn't come to the conference because she's in SCHOOL — and she dazzled.)
This girl is extraordinary; this father is extraordinary.
He finished his speech by saying that people always ask him what he did to make Malala into such a strong warrior. He says it's not what he did; it's what he DIDN'T do: "I didn't clip her wings."
I was so honored and emotional to be there last night to hear this, and wanted to share it with you all.
Unlearn your obedience, women.
Teach your girls to unlearn their obedience.
And let a star shine in the crown of this father, and all parents, who guide their daughters to grow strong.
New Poll Shows Enbridge Proposal Has Deficit of Trust and Legitimacy
September 28th 2012
The inept communication from Enbridge is not surprising. The
business community as a whole is naive about the rules that govern
public communication when the public starts out inattentive and
mistrustful. Unfortunately this is also one of those proposals with a
fatal flaw. The more the public learns about the Northern Gateway
proposal the more they opposed it.We should reduce spending on nuclear weapons more suited for the Cold War than the strategic challenges we face today.
12 hrs ·
seems all the G7 countries have double standards at home.
Barton Moss Woman Arrested and Beaten at Anti-Fracking Protest
Vanda, the mother of four who made headlines last month after her brutal arrest by officers from Greater Manchester Police Tactical Aid Unit, was again arrested and beaten at Barton Moss this morning in the full gaze of the media –
Vanda, the mother of four who made headlines last month after her brutal arrest by officers from Greater Manchester Police Tactical Aid Unit, was again arrested and beaten at Barton Moss this morning in the full gaze of the media –
If you live in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island or Vermont, one of your senators is a Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee. Their vote could be pivotal for keeping Michael Boggs from a lifetime appointment.
Sign and send the petition—Reject Michael Boggs’s nomination to the U.S. District Court in Georgia: http://wefb.it/3C65A8
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