To All the Young Girls Who Are Brown, Muslim and All Set to Rule the World… (Malala I’m Not Singling You Out, But Remember, You Set the Tone)
To all the young adults we know who are brown, Muslim and have the world’s attention, either because of your talent, or social media standing (one could be because of the other too), I have something to say. You have a stage that allows you to speak up and amplify the voices that belong to you and those that look up to you. You even have the power to shift narratives.
But when you have a world stage, with all eyes on you, remember that it is very easy to play to the crowds. A visual of a brown, Muslim girl, smoking weed, or dressed up as a ‘sex bomb’ your words, not mine, will eventually get you more traction on international media than a brown girl who talks about the children in your village and who might also face death threats for going to school – some risked their lives and some stayed behind. Some have now reached adulthood like you but might never know the inside of a tram in Europe or a walk in the park without looking back to check if they’re safe. Most will not have the world stage that you have, with a social media handle that can send a messageto millions of followers just through one click of the button and one heartfelt post to show you belong – to us!
Use it wisely.
Some of these young girls might even have achieved their dreams, but many have been left behind. Because they did not get the opportunities you did (though they might have worked just as hard, even harder), to turn their life around. Reference Malala Fund, I’m coming to that.
But just so you are in denial or confusion, you are, for all purposes, their voice. The voice of those young girls who didn’t make it, or who still dream, or those who have achieved a tiny bit of what they dreamed. Their stories can reach the world stage if you choose to speak them.
With immense good fortune and talent, comes immense responsibility. And if yours is the burden of good fortune, responsibility lies just ahead. What we do with that good fortune, how we shape the future, not just ours, but the people around us, is what counts. Every other international magazine today speaks about Malala Yousafzai’s upcoming memoirs as the most personal glimpse ever into her life – about smoking cannabis and dressing up in a pink sleeveless dress that shows her off as a sex bomb – your words, not mine. What they don’t talk about is the resilience of young girls such as you, and from your part of the country, the success stories, the support they get from their families, to allow them to march ahead despite all odds – the unsung heroes among us. These are also young women such as you who defied the trope of the young South Asian brown, Muslim girl whose spirit is suppressed into coercion and her future marked for a life dismissed as a ’has been’ in her own country – what most international media would like us to believe – why, because the story sells?
These are young girls who also went to school, just like you, defied the odds, just like you and succeeded, just like you. But unlike yours, the world might not hear their stories. Why? Because someone like you who has the power to, might not tell the world. These girls and their success involve the triumph of a community that helped them build a life and careers, as doctors, engineers, policewomen, journalists, educationists, sportswomen and so much more. They too belong from where you came and they too achieved, but within the system, which is often harder, and certainly more commendable.We want you tell the stories of these girls and the communities they come from. Those are the stories the world doesn’t know. And you can tell them.
There are also young girls who didn’t make it. And their stories must also be told, by girls like you who did.
So, if you have the good fortune to hold a social media platform, a public following that can shed light on these young women, and celebrate their triumphs, their wins against all odds and their hardships, now is the time. We want your stories to flip the narrative, not play into it. We want women such as you to tell the world that these young girls made it in their own country, and they’re not just succeeding, they are thriving. Their stories will help build more stories and more successes. We want you to talk about the women you have met from your part of the world while you worked with the Malala Fund of which you are co-founder, we want you to headline those women and give them the world stage.
Because those are the live case studies that will give hope to so many more to defy the odds.
In simple terms, we want you to give back to the community you came from, not just through quiet funding but loud banners – louder than your reveal about cannabis, and marriage-less partnerships and sex bomb outfits.
Dear brown, Muslim girls who reach for the stars today, know that as young girls who will one day drive decisions in this world, you have to choose whether you will play into the narrative of the ’empowered’ young girl who dances to the tune of ‘liberated brown girl’ unshackled by custom, culture and religion, by wearing the outfit you want or smoking a joint with friends, or instead, flip the narrative by showing the world a young girl who proudly made it, and those who are bravely marking a way forward as we speak, choosing the world they live in, and daring to change that world.
Dear Malala, and others like you, it is entirely appropriate for you to embrace your college experience and share the lesser-known aspects of your personality, including your playful and spirited side. However, sharing mostly that, may also contribute to a narrative that aligns with the expectations commonly held in Western contexts.
You do know it’s still about the West vs East don’t you – If nothing else, what happened in the Middle East these past two years and the aftermath of it – from the ‘river to the sea’, might have taught you that. It takes a brown, Muslim girl like you to flip the narrative, not by showing them, I’m exactly like you, but by showing them, that despite everything that’s happened to me, and others like me, I will survive, carry on and triumph by not only being me, but by celebrating my story and others like me.
So wherever you go, however far you travel, or high you reach, remember always that “You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot- It’s all there,” Maya Angelou
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