Malala, Martin and Martin

I have nothing original to say on the topic except to reiterate and braid some disparate threads. 

Malala Yousafzai finally wins the Nobel Peace Prize, and she shares it with Kailash Satyarthi, Indian children's rights activist. Malala is universally recognized for her activism, especially regarding education for girls. Her story is one of peace in the face of interminable violence. It also illuminates that the Taliban and other unrecognized, militant, terrorist entities are not sustained by their own breath. Hate begets hate. We in the States don't think carefully on this fact, because we don't see who suffers for our deeds.

In undergrad, I asked myself incessantly, so what is our part? What should we do in the face of violence and suffering? I was obsessed with the writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence, you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that."

How do we love here? We can act: we can go, we can pray, we can advocate-- we can speak. 

The following is a poem Malala's father kept in his pocket. The page is an excerpt from her eyewitness account and memoir, I am Malala. She was just sixteen when the book was published.

Pakistani Teen Malala Yousafzai Shares Nobel Peace Prize

At 17, Malala becomes the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner in history