Who comes to mind when you think of the word “Fearless”? For me, one current incarnation of that word is Malala Yousafzai, the youngest person to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala came to my attention, at least, in 2012 when she was shot in the head by the Taliban in her native Pakistan to stop her human rights activism, particularly focused at that time on allowing young women in her country to attend formal schooling. Fortunately, she and her family were flown to England, where she survived and where the family made their new home due to the dangers they faced in Pakistan.
Despite that attack at an early age, Malala has contained her activism. She has since written books and started a foundation and, of course, won the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet, while advocating for equal access to education, she has remained committed to her own education. This spring, she graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.
Of course, the current pandemic is an equal opportunity obstacle, so most of Malala’s former plans for her post-graduation have been put on hold. One thing that she is doing, however, is starting a feminist/underrepresented voices book club through Literati, an online book club curated by some very interesting celebrity thinkers. Besides Malala, other book clubs are curated by basketball player Stephen Curry, author Susan Orleans, entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Richard Branson, and my particular favorite–Joseph Campbell (through the Joseph Campbell Foundation).
The way that it works is that each month, Literati will mail you a physical copy of the book selected by your book club leader for that month. It also provides notes or other materials to support your reading of that book. Book club members discuss the book via a proprietary Literati app. It costs $25/month, or you can save 20% by prepaying $240 for the year.
Malala gives this description of the books she is choosing for her club:
My priority has been to focus on feminist voices, to focus on unheard voices and to focus on first-time book writers. These are my focus because these are passionate people who are facing many obstacles in their way to raise their voice. These are people who dare to speak and who dare to write, and through this opportunity that Literati has given me, I’ll be able to uplift those voices.
I think this sounds like a great opportunity for young feminists, so I hope some of my readers and/or students take advantage of this exciting program.