Extra Credit Presentation- I am Malala-Oct. 30th

For extra credit I attended a presentation on October 30^th by Amitabh Pal called: The Nobel Fighter: Putting Malala Yousafzai in Context. In the beginning, he handed us a copy of the Progressive Magazine for which he is the managing editor. He has interviewed many famous people such as the Dalai Lama for this magazine. The Progessive investigates and reports cultural and political issues. It values freedom of speech and connects current events happening around the World. Along with the Progressive, he has also published other writings on Islam and how it impacts our World. Next, he talked specifically about the book I am Malala. I thought this would be an interesting talk to attend considering I knew little to nothing about the topic before going to the presentation. It was something I found interesting and was curious to learn more about. He began his talk by talking about the book and giving background information on it. It is a true story about a fifteen-year-old girl who spoke out about education and the Taliban taking control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan. She was shot when coming home from school one day, luckily she survived and continued to speak about what was happening in Pakistan. She eventually received a Nobel Peace Prize for her work. After discussing the book, he continued to talk about the Middle East and the sole people in charge. The government is very unsteady over there and leads to a lot of conflict with the people of the countries especially women. Most of them are unable to become educated or show anything, but their faces. He also connected Pakistan with the United States. When we send planes over to take out the Talibans, we sometimes hurt innocent civilians too, causing hatred towards the U.S. This is a huge issue and Amitabh Pal spoke much about hopefully seeking peace with Pakistan. Overall, I think Amitabh Pal did a great job educating the audience on current issues in the Middle East and Malala. I truly did learn a lot more than I had expected and have gained knowledge on the issue for which I will be more aware of in the future.