She Persisted: Malala Yousafzai

Dear Reader,

As Sally Ride and Marian Wright Edelman both powerfully said, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” When Sally Ride said that, she meant that it was hard to dream of being an astronaut, like she was, or a doctor or an athlete or anything at all if you didn’t see someone like you who already had lived that dream. She especially was talking about seeing women in jobs that historically were held by men. 

I wrote the first She Persisted and the books that came after it because I wanted young girls—and children of all genders—to see women who worked hard to live their dreams. And I wanted all of us to see examples of persistence in the face of different challenges to help inspire us in our own lives. 

I’m so thrilled now to partner with a sisterhood of writers to bring longer, more in-depth versions of these stories of women’s persistence and achievement to readers. I hope you enjoy these chapter books as much as I do and find them inspiring and empowering. 

And remember: If anyone ever tells you no, if anyone ever says your voice isn’t important or your dreams are too big, remember these women. They persisted and so should you.

Warmly,
Chelsea Clinton


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Curious from the Start
Chapter 2: Speaking Up
Chapter 3: A Perilous Moment
Chapter 4: Perseverance
Chapter 5: Recognition
Chapter 6: The Work Continues
How You Can Persist
References


Chapter 1
Curious from the Start

On July 12, 1997, in the Pakistani city of Mingora, snug in the lush Swat Valley, a baby girl was born. Her father gazed down starry-eyed  at  his  firstborn  child  and  thought  about  the legendary Afghan poet Malalai of Maiwand, who was famous for her courage and convictions. He smiled and said he would name his daughter Malala.

Pakistan’s Swat Valley is famous for its snow-capped  mountains,  flower-filled  meadows,  and  clear  blue  lakes.  People  travel  from  all  over  the  world to vacation there. They hike the mountains, enjoy  the  local  hospitality,  and  take  part  in  the  joyful summer festivals. Malala’s early years were peaceful  and  happy  in  this  scenic  wonderland.  She  played  with  her  friends  and  she  also  spent  time  with  her  two  younger  brothers  (sometimes  she arm wrestled them!). But even as a small child, Malala’s favorite place to be was school. She felt at home there. Her father was a teacher and ran several schools for girls in their community. When she was very little, before she could even speak, she  would  wander  into  his  classrooms  while  he  was teaching. Sometimes she would even pretend to be the teacher!

As Malala continued to grow, both her curiosity and love for learning grew as well. She spoke  three  different  languages:  Pashto,  Urdu,  and English. She was a hardworking student and loved  going  to  school,  learning  new  things,  and  being  with  her  friends.  She  even  loved  the  pens  and notebooks with which she wrote down what she was learning. She often daydreamed about all the things she wanted to do when she grew up. She knew she wanted to help people, so she thought about  becoming  a  doctor,  and  later,  she  thought  she  might  want  to  become  a  politician.  Malala  greatly  admired  Benazir  Bhutto,  who  had  been  Pakistan’s  first  female  prime  minister—the  leader  of Pakistan’s government. She thought that becoming a prime minster would be a job that could help her  assist  even  more  people  than  being  a  doctor  would.  Her  father  encouraged  Malala  to  soar  as high  as  her  dreams  could  take  her.  Malala  was  grateful to her father for not “clipping her wings.”

Malala loved school and was sad when she learned that not all children were as lucky as she was to attend classes and learn. One day, when Malala was young, she went to drop off garbage at the local dump. She winced at the strong smell and  tried  her  best  not  to  get  her  clothing  and  shoes  dirty.  As  she  neared  the  garbage,  she  saw  that there were children digging through the trash. Malala was surprised and confused. A little girl sorted some of the rubbish and placed it in piles. A few boys were fishing for metal scraps among the heap.

The  kids  looked  like  they  were  Malala’s  age.  She looked at the little girl, trying to remember her from any of her classes, but it didn’t seem like the girl went to her school. Why haven’t I seen her in my classes? Malala wondered.

When  she  spoke  to  her  father  about  the  children  she’d  seen  digging  through  the  garbage,  he explained to her that sadly not all children were able  to  attend  school.  The  kids  she  saw  digging  through  the  trash  were  looking  for  things  they  might  be  able  to  sell  for  money.  They  would  use  the  money  to  feed  their  families.  Her  father  told her  that  this  was  the  sad  reality  for  millions  of  kids around the world, who have families so poor they need everyone in the household—even young kids—to work in order to survive.

Malala was very upset to learn about this. It was  unfair  that  some  kids  were  denied  an  opportunity to attend school and become whoever they wanted  to  be  because  of  their  life  circumstances.  All  children,  thought  Malala,  had  the  right  to  attend school.

On  that  day,  as  Malala  thought  about  those  children,  she  did  not  know  that  in  just  a  short  while,  she  herself  would  also  be  denied  access  to an education, the thing she cherished so very much.  In  fact,  Malala  could  never  have  imagined  just how dramatically everything in her life would soon change.