Reading excerpts from my intersectionality piece during our feminism class assembly on International Day of the Girl. (photo credit: Lexie Clinton).
Whether you are undocumented, poor, or a girl should not be reasons for any person to not receive the education they deserve.
In my high school feminism class, we looked at Girl Rising statistics on global girls issues and I noticed that one main issue in a girl’s life is the lack of education she receives. According to UNESCO, school is not free in over 50 countries.
I am constantly told, especially now that I am applying to college, that lack of financial resources should not be a reason to not attend a specific college. Even though I am aware of scholarships, at the end of the day, I am going to pick the school that gives me the best financial aid package if I do not receive a scholarship.
However, a lot of young women and girls do not receive the same opportunities as I have and are not aware of all the opportunities out there. In many developing countries, young people, especially girls, leave school and stay home with their families. There are 66 million girls out of school globally. These numbers are too high, and work has to be done.
On International Day of the Girl at the United Nations, my high school feminism class attended a Girls Speak Out event that featured girl activists from around the world. All of the speakers inspired me. Girls from different part of the country who were younger than I amazed me with the amount of dedication and leadership they are contributing to their country.
When Yasar Halit Ceik, the ambassador of Turkey, stated that there are “many Malala’s in the world,” it made me realize that it is never too early to fight for what you are passionate about.
At the United Nations on International Day of the Girl with my some classmates from the Feminism class. Captured by: Russell Lasdon
I admire each of the girls I heard at the Girls Speak Out event. For example, Malika, a 14 year old from Burkina Faso, raised money for 60 bikes to distribute to girls in the village of Boulsa. She works to help girls get educated and get to school safe. She ended her story by saying, “educate a girl and she will change the world.”
Diana, a 16 year old from Mexico, works to “educate, empower, and advocate for undocumented youth in the US.” I admire her for being brave and for stating during the Girls Speak Out: ”I am undocumented, unafraid, and unapologetic.” Diana’s confidence and passion for undocumented people in the United States made me tear up and get goosebumps.
Her story was inspirational and made realize the amount of suffering undocumented children and young people go through in their lives. In my family, I don’t have cousins who are undocumented but my mother’s cousin and her husband are both undocumented and left their children back in the Dominican Republic. She has not been able to see her kids grow up and see her grandchildren. The only way she sees them is by the pictures she is sent on their birthday. She has her own beauty salon in her house and takes care of kids from home to earn money to send to her children.
Even as an adult, an undocumented person struggles to survive, and I can just imagine the pressure an undocumented child has to go through. Diana talked about how she wants to be the first undocumented girl to go to college in her family. As a result of listening to her story, I was proud to be around people who support each other and are confident enough to share their stories.
Similar to the Girls Speak Out event that was held at the United Nations, my feminism class was able to have an assembly in honor of International Day of the Girl. We were able to share an excerpt from our intersectionality piece about lives along lines of race, class, and gender. It was interesting to hear everyone’s story because we are all aware of the issues girls face. Many of us have faced some sort of discrimination. Having this assembly helped us make our fellow peers in school aware that there is still work to be done.
Even today, we get people fighting for our human rights as girls. We have Malala fighting for the right of education for every child. She has declared: “ I want to change the future of my country, and I want to make education compulsory.“
Similar to Malala, I want to change education for children in my community and hopefully in the future, I will be able to work at the global level. An innocent child should not be denied the opportunity to get educated because of their gender, immigration status, race, ethnicity or family income. I am a Malala.
