Malala

Today's blog was intended to be a humorous look at fireworks, but I made the mistake of watching a video on CNN on my way to Blogspot.

The video I watched was of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban because she dared to speak out for education for girls. In this video, she was addressing the United Nations, and showed a stunning sophistication and a conviction that what she had to say was crucial in helping the world's people to find peace. What an amazing young woman she is; if you get the chance, please try to watch and listen to her speech.

This video was an almost 17 minute long message to the world that women and girls need to unite against oppression and persecution. That we need education for all, equality for all, and there should be no fear of reprisal when working for this goal. We can only hope that the leaders of the world listen and learn from this young lady.

We also need to realize that Ms. Yousafzai was not talking about just the women in the third world. What she said, what she demanded, is very relevant even to the "enlightened" west, where women are still too often treated as second class citizens.