Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997 in Mingora, Pakistan. Ever since childhood, she has been an advocate for girls’ education. She attended a school founded by her father, but after the Taliban began attacking girls’ schools in her hometown of Mingora, Pakistan, Malala gave a speech entitled “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?” This resulted in the group issuing a death threat against her, but this did not stop the dedicated young girl. Malala and her family initially believed that the Taliban would not actually harm a child, but this proved to be wrong. On October 9, 2012, a man boarded the bus in which Malala was riding home from school and fired shots at her. The shooting left Malala in critical condition and resulted in the removal of a portion of her skull to treat her swelling brain. The shooting resulted in a massive outburst of support for the activist, which continued throughout her recovery.
