She Bangs the Drums

In case you aren't familiar with her story, Malala Yousafzai is a young woman from Pakistan’s Swat Valley who spoke out in protest to the Taliban in her province when they systematically prevented girls and women from receiving an education. They did this by banning women from schools and shutting down most all girls’ schools in the province.

Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, ran a school in the region that she attended (although at times she was banned).  In 2009, a BBC reporter assigned to cover Pakistan contacted Yousafzai and asked if any of his former female students would be interested in blogging about life under Taliban rule from a young female perspective. Malala, 11-12 years old at the time, took the offer and began blogging under a pseudonym where she discussed the Life under the Talban tyranny, the Taliban’s attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls.  This led to a documentary by the New York Times, where Malala could continue her advocacy for girls’ education. She rose in prominence globally as she continued to speak out in interviews to print and television news outlets around the world. She and her father became the target of threats from the Taliban.

On Oct. 9, 2012, at age 14, Malala was shot in the head and the neck in an assassination attempt as she rode the school bus home. Although her injuries were severe, Malala was eventually transported to a hospital in the UK where she received rehabilitation therapy and has recovered. Malala’s shooting sparked a national and international outpouring of support. This past spring, Time Magazine put Malala on the cover of their 100 Most Influential People in the World issue. She was the winner of the 2013 National Peace Prize in Pakistan, and was nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. In July 2103, Malala spoke at the United Nations to call for worldwide access to education. A petition was launched by the UN, entitled “I am Malala” calling for all children of the world to be in school by the end of 2015.

Detroit Rock City

Last week, my family and I traveled to Michigan for my brother’s wedding. I had never been there and was not entirely sure what to expect. The wedding was to be held in a suburb south of Detroit, Grosse Pointe, but the hotel for out of town guests was in downtown Detroit.

 Now, my imagining of Grosse Pointe was strongly influenced by the John Cusack film, Grosse Pointe Blank. I love that movie and when we drove around the lake and took in all the large and lovely homes, I was satisfied that the expectation I had of that town was more than met.

As for Detroit, I have to admit, I was a little concerned. If you have paid any attention to the news in the last couple of years, Detroit has been held as the model of the death of the old American ideal; a once thriving metropolis, built upon the prosperous manufacturing industry of automobiles. This is the town that Ford built. Today, Detroit is reported to have the worst crime rates in the country. It is the largest American city facing bankruptcy. Decay has burned through the city like a wildfire leaving empty buildings, factories and homes in its wake. And I was going there with my husband and two young children. I have traveled throughout the US, Mexico, Europe, and even Northern Africa, but none of those adventures gave me pause like Detroit.

In the many months leading up to the wedding, I had been watching interviews and videos by a journalist and Detroit local, Charlie LeDuff. LeDuff is an award-winning journalist (Pulitzer Prize while at the N. Y. Times), or as he refers to himself, a reporter. According to LeDuff, Journalists are reports who don’t have to look at the keyboard when they type. LeDuff was raised in a modest family in a Detroit suburb and witnessed first-hand the demise of his hometown. He is a straight talking reporter who has pulled back the curtain on the devastation of his home town, but also has effectively relayed the stories of the people who still live there. He wants to see the city recreate itself and believes that it has to be done, in large part, by the families and neighbors that are still there.

Here is a link to a great video LeDuff made to demonstrate the dire situation the city is in, as shine a light on the many people who call it home. He decided to golf 18 miles from one end of Detroit to the other. The very idea that a man could even do this points out to how empty and desolate most of the city is. It is an amazing video that reveals some depressing images and some human ones.