Malalai Joya

In the tradition of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's "Infidel," and also the subject of an award-winning documentary, this impassioned, first-person account tells of a courageous young Afghani woman who risks her life by denouncing the powerful warlords in her country.

The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice

A Woman Among Warlords

Malalai Joya is the youngest and most famous female MP in Afghanistan, whose bravery and vision have won her an international following. She made world headlines with her very first speech, in which she courageously denounced the presence of warlords in the new Afghan government. She has spoken out for justice ever since, and for the rights of women in the country she loves. Raising My Voice shares her extraordinary story. Born during the Russian invasion and spending her youth in refugee camps, Malalai Joya describes how she first became a political activist. When she returned to Afghanistan, the country was under the grip of the Taliban and she ran a secret school for girls. A popular MP with her constituents, she received global support when she was suspended from parliament in 2007 because of her forthright views. Malalai Joya's work has brought her awards and death threats in equal measure. She lives in constant danger. In this gripping account, she reveals the truth about life in a country embroiled in war - especially for the women - and speaks candidly about the future of Afghanistan, a future that has implications for us all.

The Extraordinary Story of the Afghan Woman who Dares to Speak Out

Raising My Voice

Malalai Joya has been described as the bravest woman in the world. As a teenager she worked as a woman's rights activist under the Taliban, running underground classes and clinics in her native Afghanistan that would have resulted in her torture and execution if she'd been caught. After the fall of the Taliban, Malalai was elected as one of the few women to represent her province at the first assembly to frame a new Afghan constitution.Here she dared to speak out against the crimes of the war lords, who - backed by the Americans - now ruled the country. To her their crimes were almost as bad as those of the hated Taliban, yet the West seemed content to support them as part of their Realpolitik approach to Afghanistan - my enemy's enemy is my friend. Her public denunciation resulted in several attempts to assassinate her, and for the last five years she's lived under constant threat, moving from safe house to safe house. It hasn't stopped her speaking out though, and on the back of her courage she was elected to Afghan's first parliament.She represents the voiceless, the oppressed, the victims and the innocents of Afghanistan's endless cycle of violence. She's outspoken, passionate and fearless - an extraordinary woman to emerge from decades of brutal and misogynistic repression. Her book and her voice are set to resonate around the world.

Malalai Joya was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2010. An extraordinary young woman raised in the refugee camps of Iran and Pakistan, Joya became a teacher in secret girls’ schools, hiding her books under her burqa so the Taliban couldn’t find them; she helped establish a free medical clinic and orphanage in her impoverished home province of Farah; and at a constitutional assembly in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2003, she stood up and denounced her country’s powerful NATO-backed warlords. She was twenty-five years old. Two years later, she became the youngest person elected to Afghanistan’s new Parliament. In 2007, she was suspended from Parliament for her persistent criticism of the warlords and drug barons and their cronies. She has survived four assassination attempts to date, is accompanied at all times by armed guards, and sleeps only in safe houses. Joya takes us inside this massively important and insufficiently understood country, shows us the desperate day-to-day situations its remarkable people face at every turn, and recounts some of the many acts of rebellion that are helping to change it. A controversial political figure in one of the most dangerous places on earth, Malalai Joya is a hero for our times.

Malalai Joya has been described as the bravest woman in the world. As a teenager she worked as a woman's rights activist under the Taliban, running underground classes and clinics in her native Afghanistan that would have resulted in her torture and execution if she'd been caught. After the fall of the Taliban, Malalai was elected as one of the few women to represent her province at the first assembly to frame a new Afghan constitution. Here she dared to speak out against the crimes of the war lords, who - backed by the Americans - now ruled the country. To her their crimes were almost as bad as those of the hated Taliban, yet the West seemed content to support them as part of their Realpolitik approach to Afghanistan - my enemy's enemy is my friend. Her public denunciation resulted in several attempts to assassinate her, and for the last five years she's lived under constant threat, moving from safe house to safe house. It hasn't stopped her speaking out though, and on the back of her courage she was elected to Afghan's first parliament. She represents the voiceless, the oppressed, the victims and the innocents of Afghanistan's endless cycle of violence. She's outspoken, passionate and fearless - an extraordinary woman to emerge from decades of brutal and misogynistic repression. Her book and her voice are set to resonate around the world.

Malalai Joya

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